Belgrade-Moscow flight returns to airport due to security concerns

A passenger aircraft flying from Serbia's capital, Belgrade, to Moscow, the capital of Russia, was forced to turn back due to security concerns and landed at Nikola Tesla Airport.

According to Report's Balkan bureau, the Nova.rs portal announced the incident.

The JU134 flight took off from Belgrade at 18:48 local time (GMT+1) today. After reaching southern Lithuania, it was instructed to return.

According to unofficial information obtained by Nova.rs, the aircraft was carrying Aleksandar Vulin, leader of Serbia's Movement of Socialists, Dušan Bajatović, director of Srbijagas, and Nenad Popović, leader of the Serbian People's Party (SNP).

According to a source cited by the portal, the instruction to turn the aircraft back was issued by the airport's corporate security director. The decision was reportedly made for security reasons.

According to FlightRadar, the aircraft landed back in Belgrade shortly before 22:00.

No official statement has yet been issued regarding the incident.