KYIV -- Police officials in Ukraine say a man suspected in the theft of a car has taken a police officer hostage after threatening to detonate a grenade when law enforcement officers tried to detain him in the central city of Poltava.
According to the statement by the National Police on July 23, the man agreed to swap the police officer for a local chief detective. The two then drove off in a vehicle provided to him as part of his demands.
Hours later, the suspect left the car with the hostage inside and escaped into a forest by foot, police said, adding that the operation to apprehend the man continues.
Deputy Interior Minister Anton Herashchenko wrote on Facebook that the perpetrator is 32-year-old Roman Skrypnyk, who has a criminal record.
The hostage-taking incident comes two days after another man held 13 passengers hostage on a bus in Ukraine's northwestern city of Lutsk for 12 hours before he was apprehended.