Hostage Crisis At Russian Embassy
Shortly after midday yesterday afternoon, a young man took siege of the Russian embassy in San José, holding eight hostages, including the Russian ambassador, for more than fours hours before surrendering, without incident, to police.

A few minutes after 12:30om, Román Bogdawynt, a national from
a national from the former Soviet Union nation of Kyrgyzstan, and who has been living in Costa Rica since 2005, entering the country as a refugee, took control of the embassy, using a gun taken from the security guard on the scene, held holding those inside the embassy hostage.

The man peacefully surrendered to police minutes before 5:00pm, first demanding a ransom of us$50.000 to deposited into his bank account before releasing any of the hostages, and then settled for a bottle of water and a cloak to cover his face when escorted to a waiting police vehicle.

Though there are conflicting reports, the incident was over a settling of a debt which the man had gone to the embassy to have resolved.

The first reports where that a gunman, fleeing a nearby robbery scene had entered the Russian embassy to hide out. That report was discarded and news came that Bogdawynt was at the embassy to renew his passport for his return home to Kyrgyzstan.

However, word from the Russian ambassador, Valery Dmitrievich Nikoláyenko, in a telephone interview with a local television station, said that the man had come to settle a financial problem, a debt of some kind, and that no one inside the embassy was in immediate danger.

Nikoláyenko said on national television that he and two high ranking embassy officials were in a separate, secure area of the embassy and though he could leave, he chose not to until the incident came to an end.

The question of was this a real hostage incident began to rise, as there were no demands made, save for the us$50.000 made less than an hour before the gunman gave up and what seemed a last minute attempt to prolong the situation, as police negotiators continued to work to putting an end to the standoff.

That hypothesis was furthered by the fact that none of the hostages came out of the embassy building after the gunmen surrendered, perhaps due to the fact that embassy officials also live in the residences area of the embassy.

Nikoláyenko said that he did not know the man personally, but that his consul, who as at his side during the incident, did and described the man as non violent.

Bogdawynt's parents were called in to maintain the young man calm and reports are that they were a great influence in the non violent end to the incident.

However, Costa Rican authorities were taking no chances. With the aid of a Russian interpreter , they kept in constant touch with the young man, and closed off the area around the embassy for blocks.

The situation complicated the police action since this the embassy is a diplomatic centre and Costa Rican authorities have no right to storm the premises without the consent of the Russian officials, nor do they have any official authority once on the premises.

Agents of the Organismo de Investigación Judicial (OIJ), controlled the situation, backed by the Fuerza Pública. However, the final movement was by the special unit, Unidad Especial de Apoyo, under the direct command of the Ministro de la Presidencia, Rodrigo Arias, who went inside the building, handcuffed the man and escorted him into a waiting OIJ vehicle.

The police action was without incident or use of force. The man had indicated his surrender and though it was believed he would come out with his hands in the air, police moved inside the building to handcuff him and take him, with his face covered.

The case is now in the hands of the Fiscales (prosecution lawyers) who will open a case against the man for taking hostages. However, judicial sources say that investigators have hit a brick wall, as the Russian embassy gave orders to its officials not to make any statements.

In a statement to the press last night, Minister Arias, dispalyed his satisfaction that the incident was resolved without violence, injury or loss of life and applauded the actions of the police and their "crisis management" program that was instituted following the hostage incident at the Chilean embassy in July of 2004 that ended in a massacre.