Happening close to Ukraine
Armed
man takes hostages in southwestern Russian bank
An
armed man took three hostages at a Russian bank in the city of
Belgorod. He may be a client of the bank wishing to withdraw his
deposit despite the bank losing its license.
RT,
21
April, 2014
The
hostage situation is developing at a branch of the Zapadny bank in
Belgorod, a city in western Russia in a region bordering Ukraine.
The
armed man went into the bank on Monday morning and is now demanding a
certain sum of money, police confirmed. There are three people being
held hostage inside, according to preliminary information.
Earlier
unconfirmed media reports said the man is armed with a Saiga carbine
and is demanding 25 million rubles ransom ($700,000).
Police
have evacuated a school and a kindergarten near the branch as
precaution. The region’s police chief, General Viktor Pesterev, is
at the scene. Negotiations are underway
Сфотографировал максимально близко место ЧП в #Белгород'е
The
crime in progress comes on the day when the Russian central bank
announced the revocation of Zapadny bank’s banking license. The
bank had cooked its books and failed to comply with regulations on
the amount of assets a financial organization must maintain to ensure
its stability, the central bank said.
The
withdrawal of the license means that the bank’s clients will have
to wait for some time before they can get their deposits. Only
deposits no bigger than about $20,000 will be reimbursed by the
national bank deposit insurance agency. Creditors holding larger
debts will have to wait for the bank’s likely bankruptcy.
Life
News tabloid says it has identified one of the attackers as
46-year-old Aleksandr Vdovin, a client who decided to reimburse his
deposit at gunpoint. The report added that the hostages are the head
manager of the branch, a cashier and a janitor.
LifeNews
also spoke to a friend of the alleged hostage taker, Gennady, who
said his holding up of the bank branch was most likely an act of
desperation. He said Vdovin, a father of two, is a rational man and
would release the hostages unharmed, if he is given some time to cool
down and think straight.
The
tabloid spoke to Vdovin himself on the phone. He sounded rather calm
and said he was about to settle his differences with the bank. He
also agreed to allow his friend, Gennady, into the bank to act as a
negotiator.
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