Man seizes bus in Ukraine, takes 10 passengers hostage
- Ukrainian police said the man, who is armed and carrying explosives, took control of a bus in the northwestern city of Lutsk
- Gunshots were heard from the scene and the bus appears to be damaged
About 10 people are currently being held hostage, Ukraine’s Security Service said in a Facebook statement. Police earlier had put the number at 20. It was unclear how many people had been on board to start with, and whether any escaped.
Police sealed off the centre of Lutsk, a city 400km west of the capital Kiev. The assailant is armed and carrying explosives, police said. He has refused the authorities’ offer to deliver water and food to the hostages.
At one point, the assailant threw explosives out of a bus window, but no one was hurt. He also fired several shots at a police drone.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said negotiations with the man are currently under way. “We’re doing everything to free the hostages,” Zelensky told reporters.
The man called the police himself at 9.25am after taking control of the bus and introduced himself as Maksim Plokhoy, Deputy Interior Minister Anton Gerashchenko said on Facebook.