A hostage standoff in Ukraine ended peacefully after the country’s president agreed to one of the hostage-taker’s demands and endorsed a Joaquin Phoenix movie.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy agreed to the hostage-taker’s demand and told people to watch a 2005 documentary narrated by the 45-year-old actor titled, “Earthlings,” per the Hollywood Reporter in a piece published Wednesday. (Related: Joaquin Phoenix Wins The Academy Award For Best Actor For ‘Joker’)
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The 44-year-old gunman, reportedly armed with an automatic rifle and grenades, let his 13 hostages go and surrendered to authorities after Zelenskiy consented and endorsed the animal rights doc. (RELATED: Jane Fonda Tells Woman To ‘See The Parallels’ Between Trump And Hitler)
According to the report:
Kryvosh released three hostages after Zelenskiy agreed to endorse the film and surrendered to police after the president posted a video on Facebook telling the Ukraine people: “The film Earthlings from 2005. Everyone should watch it.” The video was deleted after Kryvosh surrendered and replaced with a note thanking police and others who helped end the hostage crisis. “Human life is the most important value. We have not lost anyone,” Zelenskiy wrote.
The hostage situation started on Tuesday after Kryvosh reportedly boarded a bus in the city of Lutsk and fired shots.
He reportedly told authorities the vehicle had been rigged with explosives. Several long hours of negotiations proceeded, with a host of demands from the hostage taker ranging from senior politicians in Ukraine stating publicly that they were terrorists to the Phoenix movie endorsement.
Kryvosh was later arrested and “a lengthy prison sentence awaits him,” Ukraine interior minister Arsen Avakov shared.