Four people were held hostage in a bank in central Moscow, a law enforcement source told RIA Novosti on Wednesday. He gave these kits to the bank’s clients and staff members.
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The police have preliminarily established the identity of the hostage taker.
Officials said police were able to negotiate the release of two of the hostages, both female employees of the bank.
Investigators said they had opened a criminal probe into the incident and that the two freed hostages were being questioned.
“Why am I doing this?” a man said in a video uploaded to YouTube on Wednesday, the source of which could not be independently verified. The alleged hostage taker apparently posted a video online in which he claimed that the siege was meant to draw attention to corporate and personal bankruptcy in Russia, Interfax news agency reported. He also called for the establishment of a special “rehabilitation center” for bankrupt businessmen.
Police and Russian National Guard units have been deployed to the scene.
“The negotiations are underway”, the source said.
For several hours, police cordoned off the bank and blocked traffic on the street.
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The bankrupt businessman then reportedly put up a poster saying he wanted to speak to a negotiator. He then asked to call the police, bank employees who managed to escape from the building told TASS.
