<p class="bodytext">A Russian government plane used to carry senior government officials, including the head of the FSB security service, has made a quick flight to Belarus and back, landing in Moscow in the early hours of Wednesday, flight tracking data shows.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The flight comes as Belarus, a close Russian ally, is mired in a political crisis with protesters angry over what they say was a rigged presidential election on Aug. 9.</p>.<p class="bodytext">They have been calling on veteran leader Alexander Lukashenko to step down. He has refused, saying they are part of a foreign-backed plot to destabilise the country.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Tracking data showed the plane, a Tupolev Tu-214 which is also a command and control centre, flew to Minsk from Moscow on Tuesday before landing back in Moscow in the early hours of Wednesday morning.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Attention is firmly focused on how Russia will respond to the biggest political crisis facing an ex-Soviet neighbour since 2014 in Ukraine, when Moscow intervened militarily after a friendly leader was toppled by public protests.</p>
<p class="bodytext">A Russian government plane used to carry senior government officials, including the head of the FSB security service, has made a quick flight to Belarus and back, landing in Moscow in the early hours of Wednesday, flight tracking data shows.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The flight comes as Belarus, a close Russian ally, is mired in a political crisis with protesters angry over what they say was a rigged presidential election on Aug. 9.</p>.<p class="bodytext">They have been calling on veteran leader Alexander Lukashenko to step down. He has refused, saying they are part of a foreign-backed plot to destabilise the country.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Tracking data showed the plane, a Tupolev Tu-214 which is also a command and control centre, flew to Minsk from Moscow on Tuesday before landing back in Moscow in the early hours of Wednesday morning.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Attention is firmly focused on how Russia will respond to the biggest political crisis facing an ex-Soviet neighbour since 2014 in Ukraine, when Moscow intervened militarily after a friendly leader was toppled by public protests.</p>