Lutsk:An unstable armed man who seized more than a dozen hostages on a long-distance bus in Ukraine's western city of Lutsk was detained late Tuesday after a standoff that lasted for over 12 hours and all hostages were freed unharmed, officials said.
The assailant agreed to release the hostages following a 15-minute phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Zelenskiy's deputy chief of staff Kyrylo Tymoshenko told reporters.
Shortly after the call, Zelenskiy posted a brief video message on his Facebook page to urge Ukrainians to watch “Earthlings,” a 2005 American documentary exposing humanity's cruel exploitation of animals - as the hostage-taker had wanted.
Minutes later, the assailant walked out of the bus and surrendered to the police. Authorities said all 13 hostages he held were freed and no one was hurt.
Earlier, following negotiations with the first deputy chief of the national police, Yevhen Koval, the man had released three of the hostages, including a pregnant woman. At one point during the conversation, he fired his gun through the bus window and a bullet narrowly missed Koval, who also brought water for the hostages.
After the drama ended, Zelenskiy hailed law enforcement officers for saving the hostages.
“Human life is the most important value,” he said on Facebook. “Now families can finally hug their relatives who spent the entire day on the bus in anguish.”
Speaking to reporters, Ukraine’s Interior Minister Arsen Avakov described the assailant as "an unstable man who painted his vision of the world and invented revenge for it.”