Audience members heard shrieking as actors dressed in Ukrainian military uniform grab people out of the crowd and fire blanks into the air
Russian theatregoers are being taken hostage and held at gunpoint as part of a surprise act put on by veteran separatist fighters to hammer home the reality of war in eastern Ukraine.
Unsuspecting audience members at the opening night of a new play in Kaluga, about 120 miles south-west of Moscow, were shocked when burly men dressed in Ukrainian military uniforms and carrying guns burst into the auditorium, grabbing people out of the crowd and firing blanks into the air.
The show was produced by pro-separatist actors from Ukraine’s eastern Luhansk region and opened against a backdrop of heavy Russian losses after more than eight months of war.
A local television channel broadcast footage showing members of the crowd screaming while others looked on in disbelief as the armed men stormed down the aisle, shouting abusively into the crowd and manhandling them.