Lutsk bus siege and its aftermath, remembered
A retrospective on the hostage crisis in Volyn Oblast that ended without casualties and drew the Ukrainian president into an unusual public appeal.
What did Ukraine's public institutions face in the days around 23 July 2020? Part of the answer lies in Lutsk, where a hostage crisis had unfolded two days earlier, on 21 July 2020.
A gunman carrying explosives seized a public bus in the city and held 16 people aboard, as reported at the time. The later background account describes the bus as a BAZ A079 that the man, Maksym Kryvosh, barricaded at Teatralna Square, with 13 passengers inside. The accounts differ on the number of hostages.
Police said they had identified the man, who had voiced frustration with the Ukrainian system on social media. Negotiations lasted for hours.
They ended with the gunman's surrender to police. All the hostages were freed unharmed, and the gunman was arrested.
Shortly before the surrender, the president, Volodymyr Zelensky, met one of the gunman's demands. He posted a video on Facebook urging people to watch the 2005 film Earthlings.
By 23 July 2020 the episode had ended, and the hostages were safe.
