Joaquin Phoenix's 'Earthlings' Documentary Was On List of Demands During Hostage Situation in Ukraine

Joaquin Phoenix was at the heart of a hostage situation in Ukraine today, Deadline reports.

According to the site, a man named Maksym Kryvosh took thirteen people hostage with a grenade and guns on a bus, which resulted in a 12-hour standoff with police officers.

Maksym is a known animal rights activist, who also has a criminal record for gun possesion, and one of his demands in order to release the hostages was for the country to promote Earthlings, a 2005 documentary which Joaquin narrated.

Joaquin‘s film is directed by Shaun Monson and exposed the suffering endured by animals at factory farms, research labs, puppy mills and more.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy agreed to Maksym‘s request and shared a six-second clip from the movie on the presidential Facebook page. The clip was deleted almost immediately after it played.

Joaquin is also known for his animal rights activism. After winning at the Oscars, he went straight to save a baby calf from slaughter.