Sofia Sapega, a Russian citizen who was detained along with Belarusian journalist Roman Protasevich after their flight was diverted by a warplane to Minsk on Sunday, may face criminal charges in Belarus, Russia's Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.

The Belarus warplane intercepted a Ryanair passenger jet carrying Protasevich, a journalist critical of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, in an act denounced by Western powers as "state piracy". 

Sapega, a 23-year-old student who was travelling with Protasevich, was detained by Minsk "in connection with the suspicion of having committed, between August and September 2020, offences under several articles of the Belarusian Criminal Code," a Russian Foreign Ministry statement said.

Belarusian authorities have extended Sapega's detention for two months, TASS news agency reported, citing her father, Sergey Dudich.