WARSAW, May 27. /TASS/. Stepan Putilo, co-founder of NEXTA and NEXTA-Live Telegram channels, deemed extremist in Belarus, contacted Polish authorities with a request for additional protection, Putilo himself said at a press conference in Warsaw Thursday.

"We ask Poland for additional protection," he said. "We are afraid for our life and health, because we receive threats."

According to Polish media reports, Polish intelligence agencies have already provided Putilo with a round-the-clock security detail in August 2020.

Putilo also urged the EU to increase its pressure on Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in order to achieve the release of former NEXTA chief editor Roman Protasevich who has been detained in Minsk on May 23 after the emergency landing of a Ryanair plane.

"We need an unprecedented amount of pressure on the Lukashenko regime," Putilo said, proposing an "economic, political and transport blockade" as possible pressure measures.

The press conference was also attended by Protasevich’s parents, who asked EU states for help with the release of their son and his friend, Russian citizen Sofia Sapega.

On May 23, a Vilnius-bound Ryanair flight that took off from Athens was forced to make an emergency landing at Minsk International Airport after a reported bomb threat. A Mikoyan MiG-29 jet was scrambled to escort the plane. The bomb threat came up empty after the aircraft was inspected and no explosives were found. The Investigative Committee of Belarus opened a criminal case over charges of an intentionally false bomb threat.

Later, Minsk disclosed that the plane carried NEXTA Telegram channel (deemed extremist in Belarus) co-founder Roman Protasevich. He was detained by law enforcement agents. Russian national Sofia Sapega was taken into custody with him and placed into a detention facility with the State Security Committee (KGB) for two months.