Commenting on the operation of the release of hostages in Lutsk, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted that he had done everything he could to save people's lives.
"We have agreed that he would take the first step and release several people. We had information about the injured man, and I asked him to release the injured man, the pregnant woman and the child. He said no one was injured, that it had been a bluff. That's why we agreed that he would release three people, and after that I would record a video,” the President told about his phone conversation with a man who called himself Maksym “Bad” and held 13 people hostage in a bus in Lutsk.
According to the Head of State, an agreement was reached that half an hour after the President's video message appeared on the social network, the attacker would release all the people from the bus.
"It happened roughly like this: in about 30-40 minutes (after the video message - ed.) he released the hostages," Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
The President stressed that it had been an obvious step that helped avoid storming the seized bus and risking the lives of even one person.
"I live with such principles, lived and will live - to become President and remain a person. We have a result - everyone is alive. We are not fighting for ratings - we are fighting for life. And this is the most important value for me," the Head of State said.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy also said that the Ukrainian authorities had been considering several options for resolving the situation, and for the sake of control he had to take breaks during a meeting with the President of Switzerland, who is on a state visit to Ukraine. However, the authorities tried to avoid an assault in order not to endanger people's lives. The Head of State talked with the terrorist for 7-10 minutes.