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.

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.

RT