Ukraine hostage situation ends after president's promotion of a Joaquin Phoenix documentary
A hostage situation in Ukraine has ended after the gunman strangely demanded a presidential movie review.
A gunman held hostages on a bus in Ukraine for nearly 12 hours on Tuesday, and one of his demands was for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to promote the 2005 animal rights documentary Earthlings, which is narrated by Joaquin Phoenix, The New York Times reports.
Zelensky ultimately did so, posting a video on his Facebook page in which he says, "Everybody watch the 2005 film Earthlings." The gunman reportedly showed the movie to the hostages, as well. According to the Times, three of the 13 hostages were freed following a phone conversation between the gunman and Zelensky, and the rest were freed after Zelensky's promotion of the documentary, with the man surrendering to police.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"After the video was published on social networks, we would release all the rest in half an hour," Zelensky later explained, BBC News reports. "Everything happened almost like that. In 30-40 minutes he released all hostages." Zelensky in a Facebook post also celebrated that "we didn't lose anyone today."
The video promoting Earthlings has since been deleted from Zelensky's Facebook page.
-
Political cartoons for January 4Cartoons Sunday's political cartoons include a resolution to learn a new language, and new names in Hades and on battleships
-
The ultimate films of 2025 by genreThe Week Recommends From comedies to thrillers, documentaries to animations, 2025 featured some unforgettable film moments
-
Political cartoons for January 3Cartoons Saturday's political cartoons include citizen journalists, self-reflective AI, and Donald Trump's transparency
-
Son arrested over killing of Rob and Michele ReinerSpeed Read Nick, the 32-year-old son of Hollywood director Rob Reiner, has been booked for the murder of his parents
-
Rob Reiner, wife dead in ‘apparent homicide’speed read The Reiners, found in their Los Angeles home, ‘had injuries consistent with being stabbed’
-
Hungary’s Krasznahorkai wins Nobel for literatureSpeed Read László Krasznahorkai is the author of acclaimed novels like ‘The Melancholy of Resistance’ and ‘Satantango’
-
Primatologist Jane Goodall dies at 91Speed Read She rose to fame following her groundbreaking field research with chimpanzees
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclubSpeed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's illsSpeed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, StalloneSpeed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's viewSpeed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
