The pro-Kiev Russian Volunteer Corps and the Legion for the Freedom of Russia demanded that the Belgorod governor meet and bring back captured Russian soldiers.
Fighting continues in southern Russia after armed groups launched further cross-border attacks from Ukraine. Moscow said it targeted the “terrorists” with artillery fire.
The governor of the besieged Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said on Sunday that clashes had broken out again on his side of the border and admitted for the first time that pro-Ukrainian forces had taken Russian prisoners of war during incursions.
He said he was ready for talks to bring back “our people” and told the armed groups he would meet them for exchanges.
“A sabotage group has come in. There is fighting [the] Novaya Tavolshanka [border village]’ said Gladkov. “I hope they are all destroyed.”
The pro-Kiev Russian Volunteer Corps and the Freedom Legion of Russia called on the Belgorod governor to meet and bring back captured soldiers.
“The only thing stopping me from negotiating with them is our guys, who are in their hands, maybe they’re already dead,” Gladkov said.
Ukraine has recently intensively shelled Russian settlements on the border, forcing thousands to flee to the regional hub of Belgorod.
The Russian military later claimed that they repelled a “sabotage group of Ukrainian terrorists” attempting to cross the border near the settlement.
“The enemy was hit by artillery. “The enemy scattered and retreated,” it said in a statement.
Earlier, Gladkov had asked residents of the Shebekino border district to leave their homes because of the shelling.
“Sent to Slaughter”
The fighting around Novaya Tavolshanka follows last month’s dramatic armed incursion from Ukraine, which forced the Russian military to use artillery and airstrikes on home soil. The breach of the border was claimed by anti-Kremlin nationalists.
The armed groups had previously released a video addressing the governor. It has been claimed to show “captives” their captors, called “common soldiers” sent to this war by their leadership.
The one-minute, 26-second clip showed about a dozen Russian soldiers being held captive, two of whom were lying on hospital beds. A man posing as the commander of the Russian Volunteer Corps said he would hand over the soldiers in exchange for a meeting with Governor Gladkov.
He described the prisoners as “common soldiers that you and your political leadership sent to slaughter,” according to a statement released with the video.
Hours later, Gladkov appeared in a video message agreeing to meet with the group if the soldiers were still alive.
“Most likely they killed her, hard as it is for me to say. But if they are still alive, from 5 to 6 p.m. – Shebekino checkpoint. I guarantee security,” said Gladkow.
The fighter in the video said Gladkow did not show up at the designated meeting point. “We have already decided the fate of these guys. They will be handed over to the Ukrainian side for the exchange procedure,” he said.
Ukraine officials have predicted the rise of forces they describe as opposed to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“These Russian men took up arms against their will. Soon they will understand the full abomination and injustice of the war Putin has unleashed,” another unidentified Corps member said in the video.
“The Future of Russia”
Ukraine has consistently denied responsibility for attacks on Russian soil, but presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak said on Sunday the situation in the border areas “should be viewed as Russia’s future”.
Gladkov said Sunday that Ukrainian forces continued shelling his region overnight after killing two people and evacuating hundreds of children from the border the night before.
The attacks on the Belgorod region come as Kiev declares that it is preparing a major counter-offensive against Russian forces.
In a video released on Sunday, the Ukrainian army appeared to urge soldiers to keep quiet about the plans and said there would be no announcement on the start of the long-awaited counterattack.