In Ukrainian Lutsk, an armed man hijacks a bus with hostages

The morning of July 21 in Lutsk was rocked by the news: the Berestechko-Krasnilovka regular bus was hijacked by a terrorist. The minibus ended up in the central square of the city - Teatralnaya Square - under the gunpoint of an armed man. A team of journalists from the Volyn network of the Rayon.in.ua publication collected and systematized for "Ukrainian Truth" information that is known about the hostage-taking in Lutsk.

Update: at 21:46 local time the bus was stormed, the terrorist was neutralized, and the hostages were released. Earlier, Vladimir Zelensky recorded a video message that the invader asked him about. Details are below.

The Volyn police learned that there was an armed terrorist on the bus at 9:25, when they received a phone call to line 102. The security forces cordoned off the scene and announced the “Hostage” operational plan. The mobile phones of the minibus passengers did not answer.

As of 18:00 local time, various data on the number of hostages appeared. According to the police, there are from 10 to 20 passengers in the cabin, including, as local media report, children and pregnant women. The SBU says about 10 passengers.

How the hostage-taking took place in Lutsk

According to the SBU, the Etalon bus was seized in the center of Lutsk. The attacker had weapons and explosives with him. Contact with the driver was lost. The windows on the bus are broken.

Subsequently, a video appeared of how the Lutsk terrorist got into a bus that he hijacked. He enters the salon last and closes the door after him. With him, the man had a large backpack and a bag.

It is important that regular buses usually do not go through the city center; it is not yet known how and on what route the Etalon bus arrived at Teatralnaya Square.

At 9:40 and 9:52 shots rang out on Teatralnaya Square. Regular shots were also heard from 12:15 to XNUMX:XNUMX (local time). The terrorist fired at law enforcement officers and threw a grenade, but it did not detonate.

It is known that the minibus belongs to the entrepreneur Prikhodko, who learned about the incident from law enforcement officers.

Biography of the Lutsk terrorist

The probable terrorist is a man nicknamed “Maxim the Bad.” Accounts on social networks were registered under this name, where messages and demands to the authorities were published. After some time, all his accounts, except Vkontakte, were blocked.

Subsequently, the media learned the real name of the terrorist - this is Maxim Stepanovich Krivosh, who lives in Lutsk and is registered in the city of Dubno, Rivne region.

His parents came from a village in Western Ukraine; his mother taught Russian at school and wrote poetry, which was published. The woman died in 2013 after a massive road accident with 8 deaths. My brother has a disability.

Father - Soviet scientist, inventor Stepan Krivosh.

“Bad” is 44 years old, he was born in the village of Gai, Orenburg region (Russia) in November 1975. For some time he lived in Odessa.

I was in prison for the first time at the age of 17. In total, he spent 11 years behind bars.

In the court register you can find a story from two years ago, when Maxim Krivosh almost earned 30 hryvnia (more than $700 at the exchange rate as of July 1100, 21) from an online auction. He sold a 2020 $1924 numismatic coin there. However, after prepayment, the buyer received an empty package - there was no coin in it.

According to the decision taken in April this year, Krivosh, together with the second woman seller, must return almost 10 hryvnia (more than $ 900) to the buyer.

Requirements in social networks and by phone

It is noticeable that posts with his requirements in Russian appeared systematically and synchronously in different social networks.

On July 21, a video appeared on the channel of a user named “Maxim Plokhoy” where a man with a machine gun in his hands greets viewers “Happy Anti-System Day” and expresses dissatisfaction with “the system in Ukraine.”

After a while, the video was deleted.

The Twitter account was registered in July 2020 and initially had a couple of followers, but quickly grew to almost a thousand. There, “Bad” outlined his demands.

At about 13:00 on the day of the hostage taking, this account was blocked “for violating the requirements of the social network.”

One of the demands is that Ukrainian officials publicly call themselves “terrorists in law” (spelling preserved):

“Happy Anti-System Day. The religious-political, oligarchic system of power is terror. The state has always been and is the first terrorist. There are many people with me, an automatic weapon, a grenade, two bombs, the third in a crowded place in the city; everyone will explode if the following does not happen: the heads of the courts (KSU, VSU) of the Supreme Council of Justice, the Prosecutor General, the Ministry of Justice, the director of the criminal executive department, the prime minister, the head of the Verkhovna Rada, the Minister of Defense, the head of the Security Service, heads of churches: Filare, Epifaniy , Onufriy, Shevchuk, Akhmed Tamim, Protestant, Roman Catholic, also Avakov, Poroshenko, Akhmetov, Kolomoisky, Pinchuk, Medvedchuk, - on the social network on their pages an appeal with the text “I am full name, position, I - terrorist in law."

The terrorist also asks to watch the film “Earthlings.” This is an American film from 2005, which talks about the problem of the exploitation of animals by humans for domestication, entertainment, scientific research, or for the production of food and clothing. The voice-over text was read by the famous Hollywood actor Joaquin Phoenix, known for his role in the film “Joker,” and musician Moby became the author of the soundtrack.

This film concerns the terrorist's demand, which he addressed personally to Zelensky:

“President Zelensky publishes a video message with the text: “the film “Earthlings” 2005.”

Earlier, Maxim Krivosh published animal protection posts on social networks, for example, about the collection of funds for an animal shelter, which was arranged by the priest of Rovno Vasily Konovalyuk. The churchman turned to Krivosh on the recommendations of his acquaintances to sterilize the animals (Vasily set up a shelter for homeless animals at the church).

“If the minibus hijacker in Lutsk is really called Maxim Krivosh, then this is the man who stole my crosses, icons and other things last year...” Vasily Konovaluk wrote on Facebook on July 21.

“Maxim Plokhoi” also has a profile on the social network “VKontakte”, where similar posts are published, and it remains active at the time of publication. The last time the man went there was around 14:30 p.m. on the day of the capture.

But this page is not the only one that can be associated with Krivosh. There is an account on the social network that has the same name as the terrorist’s book - “The Philosophy of a Criminal.” Among the depressing poems and philosophical quotes, you can see a photo of the Russian bomber, anarchist Mikhail Zhlobitsky, who staged an explosion at the entrance to the FSB building. The man blew himself up and wounded three FSB officers.

The editors of Rayon.in.ua received a recording of a conversation between a bus passenger and her son. The woman was forced to ask that information about the hostage taking be reported in the media, in particular on the Censor.net website.

The terrorist’s direct speech: “I’m sorry that your mother ended up here with me - but this is the situation that happened. Now I’m dropping my demands on your mom’s Viber. You look for as many journalists as possible - and send them to them by mail, by phone. Mom will give you the requirements. Explain the situation: in Lutsk, a bus full of people was seized, in short. Everything is mined, there are a lot of explosives and automatic weapons in the bus. In addition, there is a mine in Lutsk, laid separately. The authorities must fulfill the demands. The requirements are very simple."

Journalists from the Lutsk website “First” also spoke with the terrorist, and a bus passenger reached them by phone. The publication notes that the person “speaks pure Ukrainian and is noticeably nervous.”

According to their information, there are children and pregnant women on the bus. The terrorist is ready to let them go if “all the journalists come to him.” He also said this in a telephone conversation with journalist Yuri Butusov.

At about 19:30 local time, the terrorist allowed water for the hostages to be brought into the bus, which was taken by the first deputy head of the National Police Yevgeny Koval, reports Obozrevatel.

At 20:40, the terrorist released three hostages: a child, a pregnant woman and an elderly woman.

Koval took three hostages pic.twitter.com/t0WA6OLEbi

- Arsen Avakov (@AvakovArsen) July 21, 2020

Volodymyr Zelenskyy recorded a video message that the invader asked for, but after the hostages were released, the record was removed from the president's Facebook.

At 21:46, the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Arsen Avakov published a video of the release of all the hostages from the bus. The terrorist was detained. According to the telegram channel Mash, the offender himself got off the bus, lay down on the ground and surrendered. He did not have a remote explosive device.

All pic.twitter.com/p75Nf2WhAg

- Arsen Avakov (@AvakovArsen) July 21, 2020

This is how the assault took place:

“The Philosophy of a Criminal”: a book written by a Lutsk terrorist

The attacker’s social media accounts indicate that he is the author of the book “The Philosophy of a Criminal: An Apology for Freedom Anti-System.”

The book “Philosophy of a Criminal” authored by “Maxim Plokhoi” was published in 2014 by the Lutsk publishing house “Volynpolygraph”. The book's circulation is 400 copies, 560 pages.

According to the publication “Investigation.Info”, the book depicts a trademark with the signature “I can”, which Krivosh registered in 2015.

The book is autobiographical, peppered with quotes from the Bible. The author describes his stay in prisons and outlook on life.

The author notes that as a pioneer, as a child, he was deeply impressed by the feat of Yuri Lelyukov, a military commander from the village of Berezovka, Volyn region.

The teacher on November 29, 1984 in the lesson showed the students a grenade. It turned out that it was not training, but combat. The man in a matter of seconds covered himself with a grenade and saved the life of an entire class.

“Our pioneer detachment was named after Yuri Lelyukov... A state that is not able to appreciate the feat of its citizen is not worthy of respect... Where can I get the strength to overcome fear if I have the good fortune to finish my earthly journey like this Teacher?”

Here is a typical excerpt from this book, quoted by the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Anton Gerashchenko:

“They have been correcting me for 15 years, but I have not corrected myself, but rather the opposite - I have become even more who I am.

Why? Because I cope with myself and therefore am not corrected by others. Because I don't sell myself on fear. You can kill me, but that won't fix it. I am always; because - I can. I can because there is only one thing I cannot do - not be a criminal. I can because I decide everything myself and live my own way. I can because I am One. And I'm not afraid. A criminal is depth, and the one who has it cannot but be one. The face of God is in the mirror..."

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