Man detained after hostage standoff in Kyiv

Some 300 police officers were deployed to a Kyiv business center on Monday after a man took a bank employee hostage and threatened to detonate a bomb.

Ukraine's Deputy Interior Minister Anton Gerashchenko later said police have managed to restore control.

"The terrorist has been captured alive," the deputy interior minister said. "There was no explosion."

Gerashchenko also described the suspect as a 32-year-old Uzbekistan national who suffered from a mental disorder. 

What happened?

Previously, Gerashchenko wrote on Facebook that the suspect walked into the bank in the Leonardo business center at midday and told employees that he had a bomb in his backpack. He then asked them to call the police.

The suspect and branch manager then remained in the bank as the hostage situation unfolded. According to preliminary information, the woman who heads the bank's branch chose to stay in the building, Gerashchenko told the AFP news agency by phone.

The suspect wanted to give interviews to journalists — a request granted by the authorities when they allowed reporters to enter the building.

According to the Reuters news agency, security forces posed as part of a TV crew to enter the building and detained the man while he was talking to a reporter.

Authorities initially said the suspect had explosives in his possession — but this was later disputed by the deputy minister.

No one was injured, according to authorities. 

Money for the 'Holy Spirit'

In the live broadcast to the public, the suspect made no political requests — but said presidents should not exist and that one man should rule the world. 

The man also asked for 40,000 hryvnias (€1,227, $1,440) and identified himself as "the Holy Spirit, Lord God."

He also referred to the comedian-turned-president Volodymyr Zelensky as a "jester."

Latest hostage situation

It is the third hostage situation in Ukraine in less than two weeks. Last month, a man carrying explosives took 13 passengers hostage on a bus in the western city of Lutsk. All hostages were later freed and the man was arrested — but not before President Volodymyr Zelensky complied with the suspect's demand to publicly endorse a 2005 documentary that decries animal abuse.

On July 23, another man held a police chief hostage in Poltava before he was shot and killed by police. The hostage was unharmed. 

kbd,dj/stb (AFP, AP, Reuters, Ukraineski Novini)

This story has been updated to reflect the latest developments of the hostage situation.