Lutsk bus hostage crisis: what was known by 24 July 2020
A look back at the Volyn city standoff of 21 July 2020, which ended with all hostages freed and the gunman in custody.
What did the authorities and the public know about the Lutsk bus hostage crisis by 24 July 2020? The key facts had been established three days earlier, on 21 July 2020, when a gunman seized a public bus in the city in Volyn Oblast.
According to reports at the time, the man was carrying explosives and took 16 people hostage aboard the bus. Police said they identified him, and noted that he had expressed frustration with the Ukrainian system on social media. Later accounts name him as Maksym Kryvosh and describe the bus as having been barricaded at Teatralna Square, with the number of passengers inside given there as 13.
A resolution without casualties
After hours of negotiations, the gunman surrendered to police and all the hostages were freed unharmed. Shortly before the surrender, President Volodymyr Zelensky met one of the gunman's demands by posting a video on Facebook. In it he said that everyone should watch the 2005 film Earthlings.
The episode ended with the hostages released and the gunman arrested, bringing the standoff in Lutsk to a close without injuries among those held.
Elsewhere in Ukrainian news
The same week, Ukrainian football settled its season. On 19 July 2020, the 2019–2020 national championship was decided in favour of Shakhtar Donetsk. Dynamo Kyiv took silver, and Zorya Luhansk took bronze.
