Released Ukrainian hostages reunite with families

An "unstable" armed man who seized more than a dozen hostages on a long-distance bus in Ukraine's western city of Lutsk was detained late Tuesday after a standoff that lasted for over 12 hours and all hostages were freed unharmed, officials said.

The assailant agreed to release the hostages following a 15-minute phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Zelenskiy's deputy chief of staff Kyrylo Tymoshenko told reporters.

Shortly after the call, Zelenskiy posted a brief video message on his Facebook page to urge Ukrainians to watch "Earthlings," a 2005 American documentary exposing humanity's cruel exploitation of animals - as the hostage-taker had wanted.

Minutes later, the assailant walked out of the bus and surrendered to the police.

Authorities said all 13 hostages he held were freed and no one was hurt.

All hostages are in fine condition, no-one injured.

After the release all of them were questioned by the investigators after that they meet their relatives.

One of the released hostages Ruslana said: "Just behave calmly so that no unnecessary movements. All good. That helped me a lot."

After the drama ended, Zelenskiy hailed law enforcement officers for saving the hostages.

Ukrainian media said the man was an animal rights activists who helped protect stray dogs.