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Moscow Police Identify Hostage-Taking Bank Robber

Russian police officers leave a bank office in Moscow, May 18, 2016. Pavel Golovkin / AP

A man killed by the police while trying to rob a bank has been identified as Alexei Ukhin, 29, a Moscow region resident, the Russian Investigative Committee said in statement Thursday.

On Wednesday evening, an armed robber took six people hostage at the Credit Bank of Moscow building on Pervomayskaya Ulitsa in western Moscow.

Negotiations with the gunman lasted for two hours. According to Moscow police, the robber demanded a ransom of of 4.7 million rubles ($71,200) and 13,000 euros, the RBC news website reported. He claimed to be carrying a bomb, but it was tested and declared a fake, the RIA Novosti news agency reported Wednesday

The attacker was shot dead by a special forces operative who entered the room by masquerading as a negotiator, RBC reported.

By Wednesday evening, all the hostages had been released and their health and safety confirmed, the Investigative Committee reported.

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