Ukraine Hostage Ends With President Compliant With Demands To Promote Joaquin Phoenix Earthlings' Film
JAKARTA - The drama of taking 13 people hostage on a bus in Lutsk, Western Ukraine ended without casualties. The State Security Service (SBU) identified the gunman as Maksym Krvosh.
According to CNA, Maksym was arrested on Tuesday, July 21. During the hostage phase, Maksym detained 13 people, before relieving himself after speaking by telephone with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
After speaking with Zelenskiy, Maksym freed the three men. Taking advantage of the 44-year-old man's negligence, police officers managed to arrest Maksym shortly after his release.
According to records, Maksym was an extremist. He was jailed for spreading his extreme views.
In the images released by SBU, you can see Maksym lying on the ground with police personnel standing on him. The picture shows how the police arrested Maksym. The 13 people held hostage are in good condition.
"Everyone is fine," Ukraine's Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said in a tweet.
Negotiation keyЛуцк. Все целы! pic.twitter.com/ivB4u6sQEH
- Arsen Avakov (@AvakovArsen) July 21, 2020
After the hostage drama, Zelenskiy spoke to the media about what he had to say until Maksym was willing to soften up. Zelenskiy said that he promised to fulfill Maksym's demands, namely promoting a documentary film on animal rights entitled Earthlings.
Not a very difficult request for Zelenskiy to make. He fulfilled his promise to Maksym by uploading a six-second video of the film starring Oscar-winning star Joaquin Phoenix to his Facebook page.
"Everyone should watch the 2005 Earthlings film," Zelenskiy wrote in the caption of the video.
Not long after the video was uploaded, the police surrounded and arrested Maksym. Zelenskiy also deleted the upload.
"I congratulate all those who fought throughout the day for the release of the people in Lutsk. Even for their lives," Zelenskiy said in a statement after the hostages were released.
Later, the search found how Maksym had made statements on social media that he was a terrorist. Maksym even threatened to set off a bomb in the center of the crowd in Lutsk.