The young men are armed with bludgeons, knives and, reportedly, one submachine gun. According to the eye-witnesses, the bank entrance is blocked with a plywood sheet instead of the doors. Two police squads armed with Kalashnikov guns have arrived. The police have cordoned off Moskovskaya Street and are now following the situation.
One of the eye-witnesses reports that running people who are looking for something can be seen though the windows.
2:38 The Ukrainian information agency UNIAN reports that unknown people are sawing the entrance to the bank vault. Some sources say that a substantial amount of money is kept in the vault. The bank security is blocked on the third floor. The masked robbers control two floors of the building.
2:49 The robbers let one of the bank guards go. He says that the band is well-organised and is armed with pistols and machine guns. The guards are disarmed and locked in a separate room. He also confirms that the unknown try to enter the vault.
3:10 Officers of Titan joined the police as reinforcement.
The unknown masked men let off the other five guards. The guard who was released last said that before he went a man in balaclava came up to him and said that they were not going to rob a bank but took it under their protection. Then, he said that the guns taken would be registered and given back during the talks. He did not say with whom and about what the talks would be conducted.
Meanwhile both Maidan Self-defence and The Right Sector neglect that their people are connected with hijacking of the bank.
Avakov, Nalivaichenko and directors of the other security agencies do not answer phone calls.
3:58 The talks between representatives of Maidan Self-defence and the masked men were held. As a result of the negotiations the hijackers agreed to surrender and leave the bank. A police bus which will take them pulled up to the entrance.
4:19 The unknown men surrendered guns taken from the guards and one Kalashnikov gun. 10 officers of Alfa squad came up to the building. Although a special corridor for the hijackers is arranged, the masked men do not hurry to go out. One of the police officers is speaking to them.
5:06 The young men are led out of the building. They all are athletic built and masked, some of them wear camouflage. They speak with Russian accent. They are searched over and disarmed at the entrance door. At least four Kalashnikov guns are confiscated.
The press service of the Kiev Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs reports that the police arrested 38 armed men.
Oleg Makhnitsky, the interim Prosecutor General, says that the men who assaulted the Ukrainian Business Bank will receive punishment to the maximum extent of the law. However, they were soon released. The press service of the Kiev police explained to the Vesti news programme that 38 young people were not arrested. They were taken to the local police station only for a conversation.
“They all are identified. They are Ukrainian citizens and we know where they live. We have no grounds to arrest them. The weapons they surrendered will be taken to expertise. Only after that we can say whether it is fire-arms or just models. We are now questioning the guards and watching records from the cameras. That is how we will ascertain who did what in the bank at night,” sources in police say.
The night visitors ‘explained’ to the police that they are Voiny Narnii
(one of the gang groups forming Maidan Self-defence), who came to guard the bank while others were only passers-by and came to the bank accidently.
