Thirteen hostages were freed from a hijacked bus in Ukraine after the president complied with the gunman's bizarre request to promote a vegan documentary.
As directed, Volodymyr Zelenskiy posted a brief video message on his Facebook page to urge Ukrainians to watch Earthlings, a 2005 film narrated by Joker star Joaquin Phoenix.
The act brought an end to a stand-off in the western city of Lutsk, which had gone on for more than 12 hours. Minutes later, the assailant, who was armed and carrying explosives, surrendered to police and authorities said all of the hostages were freed.
The deputy chief of national police, Yevhen Koval, had previously secured the release of three of the hostages, including a pregnant woman.
The officer also narrowly avoided getting shot when delivering water to the bus after the assailant fired towards him.
Speaking to reporters after the drama ended, Ukraine’s Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said the assailant was an “unstable man who invented his own world”.
Police sealed off the centre of Lutsk, 250 miles west of the capital Kyiv after te bus was hijacked.
At one point, the assailant threw explosives out of the bus window, but no-one was hurt. He also fired several shots at a police drone.
The man called the police himself at 9.25am local time after taking control of the vehicle and introduced himself as Maksim Plokhoy, Deputy Interior Minister Anton Gerashchenko said on Facebook.
According to Mr Gerashchenko, police have identified the man as Maksim Krivosh, a 44-year-old Ukrainian born in Russia.
According to other reports, Krivosh tried to reach out to journalists through hostages and their phones, demanding that they spread the word about his demands and get more reporters to arrive at the scene.
