UKRAINE: Twenty people are taken hostage on a bus by an armed man in Western Ukraine in Lutsk.
The man is identified by the police as Maksym Kryvosh, 44, from Russia. According to police records the armed man has previous convictions and undergone psychiatric treatment.
The police on the scene were also targeted by the man they came under fire. According to reports, the police were also attacked with a grenade, fortunately, it did not go off.
Reports also suggest he seized the bus and took 20 people, hostage, after complaining about the country’s politics on social media. The police also claimed that Maksym Kryvosh labeled senior state politicians as terrorists.
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Deputy Interior Minister Anton Herashchenko has given a statement saying police are negotiating with the man in hopes of resolving the issue.
The officers of the counter-terrorism SBU security services have surrounded the bus.
The police have informed two shots were fired from the bus, the hijacker also threw a grenade from the bus window which did not detonate.
The attacker is armed and carrying explosives. The assailant called the police himself around 9:25 am after taking control of the bus and introduced himself as Maksim Plokhoy.
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His online profile is titled as “Philosophy of a criminal,” considering is previous criminal records and also states “For 15 years they’ve been correcting me, but I haven’t been corrected, on the contrary — I’ve become even more who I am,”
The assailant has also given threats that he has planted explosives on public places which can be operated and detonated remotely.
The city center is cordoned off and people have been instructed to stay indoors.
The armed man Maksym Kryvosh has over 10-years of a prison record. he has been convicted in fraud and illegal handling of weapons among others.
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