Two military detachments of anti-Putin Russians fighting for Ukraine have said that they will hand over Russian POWs captured inside Russia to Ukraine after the governor of Belgorod failed to pick them up.
The Russian Volunteer Corps and Freedom of Russia Legion, who since 1 June have been conducting a renewed military operation in Russia’s Belgorod Oblast, announced that the governor of Belgorod Oblast, Vyachelav Gladkov, failed to meet them at a church in Nova Tavolzhanka to retrieve the captive Russian soldiers. Instead, the groups stated that they will hand over the prisoners to Ukraine for further exchanges.
In a video address by the leader of the Russian Volunteer Corps, Denis Nikitin, viewers can see ten captured soldiers and two wounded ones. On the afternoon of 4 June, the Russian Volunteer Corps and the Freedom of Russia Legion recorded a video with two captives, stating that they were ready to release them in exchange for a personal meeting with Governor Gladkov of Belgorod Oblast.
“As a gesture of goodwill, which the Russian government so often talks about, we are ready to give you these prisoners, ordinary Russian soldiers, for the opportunity to talk to you personally, to discuss the current situation in the region and, most importantly, to talk about its future and the future of Russia as a whole,” RDK stated in its Telegram post.
In the video, the Russians invited Gladkov to the church in Nova Tavolzhanka, stipulating that he should arrive in an ambulance, accompanied only by a driver and without weapons. The groups expressed their desire to discuss the situation in the oblast, as well as the future of Russia in general. Governor Gladkov agreed to meet, but on his own terms. He stated that he was prepared to meet at the “Shebekino” border crossing point on the Ukrainian-Russian border. He scheduled the meeting from 17:00 to 18:00.
After Nikitin offered Gladkov to meet and exchange a conversation with him for Russian prisoners, the leader of the Wagner PMC, Yevgeny Prigozhin, wrote: “Denis, if no one comes to the designated place for the prisoners, I am ready to send one of my high-ranking deputies to pick them up. If Volodymyr Zelenskyy comes to this place, I am ready to come myself.”
On June 1, fighting broke out in the Russian border town of Shebekino. The Russian Volunteer Corps and Freedom of Russia Legion announced the second phase of the “liberation” of the Belgorod Oblast. Fighting continues to this day.
Freedom of Russia Legion, pro-Ukrainian Russian insurgents who breached the border of Belgorod Oblast, claim they destroyed 2 tanks, 1 BMP-3 and 1 BRDM near the Shebekino checkpoint this night with the help of drones
📽️ https://t.co/kEBR4Djw2q pic.twitter.com/BoIVPtijuy
— Euromaidan Press (@EuromaidanPress) June 5, 2023
The pro-Ukrainian Russian insurgents have reportedly captured 200 square kilometers of the region.
Russian Volunteer Corps fights for Ukraine and to dismantle Putin’s regime
