A near 12-hour standoff in Ukraine between an armed man and the police came to an end when the country's president agreed to comply with the gunman's demand that he publicly endorse a Joaquin Phoenix documentary in order to free hostages. The New York Times reports that President Volodymyr Zelensky took to Facebook to urge Ukrainians to watch Phoenix's 2005 film Earthlings in a bid to secure the release of 13 hostages who were being held captive on a city bus. He deleted the post shortly after the hostages were freed and the armed man was confirmed to be captured. The documentary film, narrated by Phoenix and directed by Shaun Monson, examines humankind's economic dependence on animals and depicts hidden camera footage of animals suffering, as it chronicles the day-to-day practices at some of largest industries in the world, all of which are said to rely entirely on animals for profit. After Zelensky posted his short message to plug Earthlings, the hostage-taker, identified as Maksim Krivosh, reportedly released all of the remaining hostages and then surrendered to the police. It was later confirmed that none of the hostages had been physically harmed by Krivosh, who was heavily armed with weapons and explosives throughout the tense ordeal in the city of Lutsk. Although there had been several demands posted on Twitter throughout the day, the public promotion of the film prompted Krivosh to officially end the standoff. President Zelensky issued a statement after it was confirmed that the hostages had been freed and Krivosh had been arrested by the authorities, stressing that the most important aim throughout the hostage situation was to ensure that there was no loss of life. "We were not fighting for ratings," he said. "We were fighting for lives." [poilib element="accentDivider"] Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.
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