A hostage situation ended after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky promoted the 2005 animal rights documentary Earthlings.
“Everyone should watch the 2005 film Earthlings,” Zelensky urged Ukrainians in a video released as part of a hostage demand.
The bizarre, six-second video, which features Zelensky wearing a dark suit and tie, came near the end of a tense situation that began Tuesday after a man hijacked a passenger bus and took 16 people hostage in the Ukrainian city of Lutsk.
Investigators said that 44-year-old Maksym Kryvosh was behind the hourslong incident. One of his demands was that senior Ukrainian lawmakers admit that they are terrorists, the BBC reported. Another demand was that the president appeal to Ukrainians to watch Earthlings. During the situation, Kryvosh also spoke directly with Zelensky, his spokeswoman Yuliya Mendel said.
After he spoke with Kryvosh, Zelensky posted the clip about the film. Earthlings is a Hollywood documentary narrated by Joaquin Phoenix that examines the role that animals play in global industries, including science and entertainment.
“Of all the films I have ever made, this is the one that gets people talking the most. For every one person who sees Earthlings, they will tell three,” Phoenix said after the release of the documentary.
With all hostages free and the hostage-taker in custody, President Zelensky has deleted the Facebook video of himself complying with the armed man’s demand to promote the 2005 film Earthlings featuring narration by Joaquin Phoenix. But here it is for posterity. pic.twitter.com/lPcHB8XD3H
— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) July 21, 2020
Mendel said that Zelensky’s phone call with the hostage-taker resulted in three people being released. Police said that Kryvosh fired two rounds from the bus and claimed to have planted a remotely detonated explosive in a public place prior to counterterrorism authorities swarming the bus and rescuing the 13 remaining hostages.
“The attacker threw a grenade from the bus, which, fortunately, did not detonate,” officials noted in a Tuesday statement.
Kryvosh was arrested, but a motive for the hostage situation has not yet been released.
