KIEV, July 21. /TASS/. The man who hijacked a passenger bus in the Ukrainian city of Lutsk surrendered after watching a video address by president Vladimir Zelensky, the deputy chief of the president’s staff, Kirill Tymoshenko, said on Tuesday.

"The president himself decided to communicate with the miscreant, a phone conversation has taken place. The president talked to him for quite a while, for 15 minutes or maybe a bit less, and persuaded the miscreant to release three people," he said. "Only after that, the president made the decision to publish the video that you all saw, in order to ensure the release of the remaining hostages. That was the deal," he said.

As demanded by the hijacker, Zelensky posted a short video on his Facebook page earlier on Tuesday. During the six-second clip, Zelensky says "Everyone must watch a 2005 documentary, ‘Earthlings.’"

The video was deleted from the president’s account immediately after the hostages were released.

A bus in Lutsk with around 20 people onboard was hijacked earlier on Tuesday. The police said the terrorist was armed with grenades and an automatic weapon. The man himself informed the police about seizing the bus and noted that he had "planted another landmine in a crowded place in the city which can detonate." Ukraine’s media outlets reported that he had a previous criminal record.

Since taking the people hostage, the terrorist opened fire at law enforcement officers twice, hurled a grenade that did not explode and tried to shoot down a police quadcopter. People living in nearby buildings next to the scene were evacuated. The Ukrainian security service launched criminal proceedings on charges of terrorism.

The man published his demands in a Twitter post. He insisted that certain senior judges, ministers, prosecutors, lawmakers and clerics - 24 people in total - recorded and posted on YouTube statements that they were ‘terrorists in law.’ He also demanded that President Vladimir Zelensky recorded and posted online an appeal to watch ‘Earthlings.’

‘Earthlings,’ the 2005 US documentary film directed by animal rights activist Shaun Monson, looks into the humanity's exploitation of animals for food, clothing, entertainment, and for scientific research.