Man armed with hand grenade takes police chief hostage in central Ukraine

A man armed with a grenade escaped arrest on Thursday and took a senior Ukrainian policeman hostage in the central city of Poltava, a government minister said.

It was the second hostage-taking in Ukraine in three days. On Tuesday, an armed man held 13 people captive on a bus for hours before releasing them.

Police on Thursday were trying to arrest a man suspected of hijacking a vehicle when he took out a grenade and threatened to kill one of the officers, Deputy Interior Minister Anton Gerashchenko said on Facebook.

After negotiations, the man exchanged the police officer for a police colonel and drove off with him in a car provided by police.

“Negotiations are ongoing to force the attacker to surrender to the police without harming himself or others,” Gerashchenko said.