Teddybear Airdrop Minsk 2012 was an aerial event that took place over Belarus on July 4, 2012. An airplane, chartered by the Swedish advertising agency Studio Total, illegally entered the Belarusian airspace on July 4 and parachuted several hundred teddy bears with notes carrying pro-democracy messages. After denying for three weeks that the incident ever took place and calling the footage of the airdrop released by Studio Total a hoax, the Belarus government finally acknowledged on July 26, 2012, that the teddy bear airdrop did happen.
The event greatly angered the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, who viewed it as a significant national security failure. Lukashenko sacked two top generals, the heads of Belarus' border guards and of Air Defense, for failing to intercept the Studio Total plane. [1] The airdrop led to an escalating diplomatic crisis in relations between Belarus and Sweden. On August 3, 2012, Belarus expelled the Swedish Ambassador and subsequently ordered the remaining staff of the Swedish embassy to leave Belarus by the end of the month. Belarus also withdrew its ambassador and all of its embassy staff from Sweden.
On July 4, 2012, a small airplane, chartered by the Swedish advertising agency Studio Total and with two people on board, took off from an airfield in Lithuania [2] and illegally entered the Belarus airspace, crossing the Belarusian border from Lithuania. The plane dropped several hundred teddy bears, carrying cards and notes with pro-democracy, pro-freedom of speech and protest messages, over the Belarusian town of Ivyanets, near Minsk. The organizers of the airdrop originally planned to drop some of the teddy bears over state government buildings in Minsk, but uncertainties over the fuel supply and also the fact that the plane had been contacted by the Belarusian air traffic controllers resulted in a decision to drop the bears over Ivyanets and then head back. [3] The plane crossed back over the border into Lithuania without encountering any interference from the Belarusian military.[ citation needed ] Per Cromwell, the founder of Studio Total, was in a car on the ground in Ivyanets during the airdrop. [4] Various newsreports put the total number of teddy bears dropped at around 800. [5] [6]
The airdrop operation was dubbed "Teddybear Airdrop Minsk 2012" by its Studio Total organizers. [3] [7]
One of the pilots of the Studio Total plane involved in the airdrop, Tomas Mazetti, stated that the idea to use teddy bears came from Belarusian pro-democracy activists, who had been arrested on many occasions by the authorities and started carrying teddy bears with protest slogans demanding freedom of speech. The teddy bears were regularly confiscated by the police and the Studio Total airdrop was intended as a solidarity gesture: "we flew in teddy bears and airdropped them to support those arrested teddy bears". [8] Studio Total maintains that no Belarusian democracy activists were involved in planning the teddy bear airdrop. According to Mazetti, the flight inside Belarusian airspace lasted for about an hour and a half, at the altitude of about 50 meters, or 150 feet. [1]
The two people on board the teddy bear flight, Tomas Mazetti and Hannah Frey, spent about a year preparing for the airdrop operation. Their preparations included buying a three-seater Jodel plane and learning to pilot it, spending the equivalent of about US$184,500 in the process. [9]
After the airdrop Studio Total released several short video-clips of the operation. A number of videos, made by Belarusians who observed the drop, of parachuting teddy bears were posted on YouTube and went viral. However, the initial reaction both by the Swedish media and by the Belarusian state media, to the Studio Total claims of the airdrop, was skeptical. [10]
The Belarusian authorities initially issued stringent denials that the teddy bear airdrop ever occurred and that there was no unauthorized intrusion of the Belarus air space on July 4. Belarusian government officials claimed that the Studio Total video of the drop was fake and characterized it as a "hoax" designed to embarrass the Belarus government. [11] About a week after the drop Studio Total released about 90 minutes of raw unedited video-footage taken during the July 4 flight. Radio Free Europe examined the footage and concluded that it appeared to be authentic. [3] Nevertheless, the Belurasian government continued to deny that the airdrop happened. [12]
On July 13, authorities in Belarus arrested a 20-year-old student journalist, Anton Suryapin, who posted on his website, Bnp.by, some of the first photos related to the teddy bear airdrop. [13] Suryapin wrote on his website that he was e-mailed the photos by one of the local residents who observed the drop. Several days prior to Suryapin's arrest, the police in Minsk arrested a realtor, Syarhei Basharimau, who had rented an apartment in the capital to two Swedes connected with Studio Total. Representatives of Studio Total claim that neither Suryapin nor Basharimau were in any way involved in planning and conducting the airdrop and called for their release. [4] [14] Several human rights organizations, including Amnesty International [14] also called for Suryapin's release. Both Suryapin and Basharimau, who have been formally charged, were released on bail on August 17, 2012 and faced up to seven years imprisonment. [15] The Belarusian government publicly lifted the bail conditions and announced that the criminal case was closed on June 28 2013. [16]
In early August 2012 two journalists, Irina Kozlik and Yulia Doroshkevich, who took photos of teddy bears in solidarity with Suryapin and Basharimau, were arrested in Minsk and then convicted of "violating the law on protests" and fined the equivalent of several hundred U.S. dollars. [6] [17]
After three weeks of denials by the Belarusian authorities that the event actually occurred, on July 26, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko finally acknowledged that the July 4 teddy bear airdrop did take place. [2]
President Lukashenko was reported to have been greatly angered by the teddy bear airdrop and by the failure of the Belarusian military to intercept it, which he viewed as a significant national security lapse. He indicated that those officials responsible for this lapse will be disciplined: "This plane was discovered in time, but why did the (air defense) authorities not intercept the flight? ... Come on lads. We are all grown up. The guilty ones have to answer for this." [18]
On Tuesday, July 31, 2012, the Belarusian government announced that President Lukashenko had sacked two top generals, the air defense chief Dmitry Pakhmelkin, and the head of the border guards Igor Rachkovsky "for not properly carrying out their duties in safeguarding Belarusian national security." [18] [19]
President Lukashenko instructed the new border guards chief to shoot down any future illegal intruders of the Belarusian airspace: "Unlawful violations of state borders must not be allowed. They must be stopped by all force and means, including weapons, regardless of anything." [20]
On August 11 the Belarus KGB issued summons to the three Swedish organizers of the airdrop, Tomas Mazetti, Hannah Frey and Per Cromwell, to come to Belarus for questioning about the operation within 10 days. [21] [22] The summons were posted on the Belarus KGB website and delivered to Studio Total by e-mail and stated that failure to comply could result in "correctional work for up to two years, or imprisonment for up to six months." [21] Studio Total refused to comply with the summons and instead offered to discuss the airdrop operation directly with President Lukashenko if he visits Sweden. [23]
Belarus also sent an official request to the government of Lithuania for help "to investigate a possible breach of the state border when a Swedish-piloted light aircraft crossed the Lithuanian-Belarus border." President Lukashenko was quoted by Interfax saying that "Lithuania should not be sitting like mice under a broom. They must answer to us why they provided their territory for national border violation. If there is anyone who won't find it funny, it is Lithuania". [24]
On August 3 Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt announced that Belarus had "expelled" the Swedish ambassador to Belarus, Stefan Eriksson, who had been on vacation in Sweden at the time when informed that he would not be allowed back to Belarus. [25] The Belarus government disputed Sweden's characterization of events, stating: "The Belarusian side did not expel the Swedish ambassador. The decision was made not to extend his accreditation." [25] Belarus justified its decision by saying that the Swedish ambassador's "activities were aimed not at the strengthening of relations between Belarus and Sweden, but on their erosion." [26]
In response the Swedish government announced that the incoming Belarusian ambassador to Sweden would not be allowed into the country and that two other Belarusian diplomats were being expelled. [25] Subsequently, Belarus ordered all the remaining Swedish diplomatic staff to leave Belarus by August 30.[ citation needed ]
The European Union held an urgent meeting of its diplomats on Friday, August 10, 2012, in Brussels to discuss the EU response to the escalating row between Belarus and Sweden. The EU diplomats expressed strong support for Sweden in the dispute but took no concrete action against Belarus. [27] Earlier reports indicated that the meeting was expected to result in a mass recall of the EU ambassadors in Belarus to their home countries. [28]
Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Covering an area of 207,600 square kilometres (80,200 sq mi) and with a population of 9.1 million, Belarus is the 13th-largest and the 20th-most populous country in Europe. The country has a hemiboreal climate and is administratively divided into six regions. Minsk is the capital and largest city; it is administered separately as a city with special status.
The Byelorussian SSR was one of only two Soviet republics to be separate members of the United Nations. Both republics and the Soviet Union joined the UN when the organization was founded in 1945.
The lands of Belarus during the Middle Ages became part of Kievan Rus' and were split between different regional principalities, including Polotsk, Turov, Vitebsk, and others. Following the Mongol invasions of the 13th century, these lands were absorbed by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which later was merged into the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the 16th century.
Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko is a Belarusian politician who has been the president of Belarus since the office's establishment in 1994. This makes him the longest-serving European president.
Interstate relations between the United States and Belarus began in 1991 upon the dissolution of the Soviet Union, of which Belarus had been a part. However, the relations have turned sour due to accusations by the United States that Belarus has been violating human rights. Belarus, in turn, has accused the United States of interfering in its internal affairs.
Mutual relations between the Republic of Belarus and the European Union (EU) were initially established after the European Economic Community recognised Belarusian independence in 1991.
Belarus and Ukraine are both are full members of the Baku Initiative and Central European Initiative. In 2020, during the Belarusian protests against president Lukashenko, the relationship between Ukraine and Belarus began to deteriorate, after the Ukrainian government criticized Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko. In the waning days of 2021, the relationship between both countries rapidly deteriorated, culminating in a full-scale invasion on 24 February 2022. Belarus has allowed the stationing of Russian troops and equipment in its territory and its use as a springboard for offensives into northern Ukraine but has denied the presence of Belarusian troops in Ukraine. Even though part of the Russian invasion was launched from Belarus, Ukraine did not break off diplomatic relations with Belarus, but remain frozen.
Belarus and Lithuania established diplomatic relations on 24 October 1991, shortly after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The two countries share 680 kilometres (420 mi) of common border. Lithuania's border with Belarus is the country's longest border. For Belarus it is its 3rd-longest border.
The Republic of Poland and the Republic of Belarus established diplomatic relations on 2 March 1992. Poland was one of the first countries to recognise Belarusian independence. Both countries share a border and have shared histories, for they have been part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and later, the Russian Empire. They joined the United Nations together in October 1945 as original members. The two countries are currently engaged in a border crisis.
Studio Total was a Swedish marketing and advertising agency in Stockholm and Malmö. They focused primarily on creative PR, such as guerrilla marketing, and have attracted much attention for several campaigns, both locally and globally. Their first assignment was for the National Swedish Touring Theatre, for which the fictional political party "Kulturpartiet" became one of the most successful Swedish PR-campaigns in 2005. On the political theme, Studio Total also stirred up controversy in 2010, when Swedish feminist Gudrun Schyman burned 100,000 kronor in a protest against unequal pay. In 2012 Studio Total won a gold epica for worlds best PR.
Presidential elections were held in Belarus on 19 December 2010. The elections had originally been planned for the beginning of 2011. However, the final date was set during an extraordinary session of the National Assembly on 14 September 2010.
Natalya Radina, also known as Natalya Radzina, is a Belarusian journalist and the editor-in-chief of the independent news site Charter 97, which publishes many articles critical of the regime of Belarusian president Aleksandr Lukashenko.
Anton Andreyevich Suryapin is a Belarusian photojournalist. On 13 July 2012, he was detained after publishing pictures of a protest by a Swedish advertising company in which teddy bears were airdropped into the country with slogans advertising freedom of speech.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Minsk, Belarus.
Tomas Mazetti, is a Swedish activist and inventor. He is the founder of the former creative agency Studio Total as well as the invention lab Nordic Society for Invention and Discovery and Wheelys Café. He is, among other things, known for the Teddybear Airdrop Minsk 2012 where he flew over Belarus airspace, parachuting teddy bears with democratic messages.
Events in the year 2020 in Belarus.
Roman Dmitriyevich Protasevich or Raman Dzmitryevich Pratasevich is a Belarusian blogger and political activist. He was the editor-in-chief of the Telegram channel Nexta and chief editor of the Telegram channel "Belarus of the Brain".
Ryanair Flight 4978 was a regularly scheduled international passenger flight from Athens International Airport, Greece, to Vilnius Airport, Lithuania, operated by Buzz, a Polish subsidiary of the Irish airline Ryanair. On 23 May 2021, while in Belarusian airspace, it was diverted by the Belarusian government to Minsk National Airport due to alleged claims of a Hamas bombing attempt, where two of its passengers, opposition activist and journalist Roman Protasevich and his girlfriend Sofia Sapega, were arrested by authorities. The aircraft was allowed to depart after seven hours, reaching Vilnius eight and a half hours behind schedule.
Sofia Andreyevna Sapega is a Russian student and former political prisoner who was arrested by Belarusian authorities in May 2021 along with Roman Protasevich after their flight Ryanair Flight 4978 was diverted to Minsk due to a false bomb threat. In May 2022, she was sentenced to six years in prison; she was pardoned one year later.
On 28 September 2021, Andrei Zeltser, a Belarusian IT worker, was killed in Minsk by members of the State Security Committee of the Republic of Belarus who conducted a raid on his apartment. After a door breaching, a shootout took place, in which Zeltser fatally shot Dmitry Fedosyuk, a KGB agent from the Alpha Group unit. Zeltser was subsequently killed by the KGB. Zeltser was subsequently called a "terrorist" by the government. According to the state-owned Belarusian Telegraph Agency, "members of an extremist group with ties to the opposition, supposedly, lived in the apartment", referring to Zeltser, 31, and his wife, who was arrested.