The plush landing is a protest action against the violation of freedom of speech in the Republic of Belarus, carried out by Swedish citizens. As a result of this peaceful action involving plush toys, heads of state services were removed from their posts or were reprimanded. Also, significantly deteriorating relations between Belarus and Sweden.
The action was organized by the Swedes Thomas Masetti and Hanna-Line Frey. According to them, once in a bar, a guy told them about the political assassinations taking place in Belarus, which incredibly angered the Swedish citizens. Thomas and Hanna-Line purchased a small light aircraft. They loaded into it about a thousand small teddy bears, to which were attached flyers in defense of human rights. On July 4, 2012, the plane took off from the Lithuanian city of Prienai and headed towards Minsk. Plush troops were dropped in the vicinity of the capital near the town of Ivenets.
For about a month, the Belarusian authorities denied the existence of teddy bears with leaflets and the fact of illegal border crossing. However, on July 31, President of the country Alexander Grigorievich Lukashenko admitted the existence of a "plush landing". The reaction immediately followed. The commander of the Air Force and Air Defense Forces of Belarus, as well as the chairman of the State Border Committee, were dismissed from their posts. They were charged with misconduct. A warning about incomplete official compliance was issued to the Minister of Defense and the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces. The Secretary of State of the Security Council and the Chairman of the KGB were reprimanded.
Punishment befell civilians as well. The charges were brought against the photographer, who captured the "plush landing" and posted the pictures on his blog, as well as against a Minsk resident, from whom Thomas Masetti and Hanna-Line Frey planned to rent an apartment, but later refused. The police also detained two girls who intended to be photographed with a teddy bear participating in the action. The Swedes themselves deny any participation of Belarusians in the protest action.
The proceedings on the fact of illegal border crossing and the organization of an anti-government action have not yet been completed. The Embassy of Belarus recalled its representatives from Sweden and invited Stockholm to do the same. The Swedes themselves are planning to consider the act of their compatriots as an administrative violation.
