Russian governor says he will accept Kiev-backed militants' demand for meeting, to free POWs

RT
Mon, 05 Jun 2023 01:46 UTC

Belgorod Region Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Sunday that he was ready to meet the leader of the Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK), a neo-Nazi group of Russian nationals fighting for Kiev, if the militants return two of Moscow's soldiers that were shown as captives in a recent video.

"If [the Russian soldiers] are alive, [I'll be at] the automobile border-crossing point Shebekino between 17:00 and 18:00," Gladkov said in a video address published on his Telegram channel. He was referring to a border crossing separating Russia's Belgorod Region from Ukraine's territory.

The governor was responding to a video published by the RDK and the 'Freedom of Russia Legion' - two neo-Nazi groups that previously claimed responsibility for several incursions into Russia this spring. Footage published by the militants shows them standing next to two Russian POWs, with one of them apparently injured.

Denis Nikitin, the RDK leader, claimed on the video that his fighters had entered the town of Novaya Tavolzhanka in Belgorod Region and offered to meet Gladkov in a local church "for a talk" in exchange for the POWs' release.

Gladkov said the fate of "our boys that are at the hands" of the militants was the only thing that prevented him from outright dismissing the militants' offer. He branded the RDK and the 'Freedom of Russia Legion' militants as "scoundrels, bastards, murderers and fascists," blaming them for civilian deaths.

Later on Sunday, the defense ministry in Moscow said its troops and border guards had successfully repelled an attack by a sabotage group that had sought to enter Russian territory from Ukraine. The militants attempted to cross a river near Novaya Tavolzhanka but were struck with artillery and dispersed. The militants then had to fall back to Ukrainian territory, the ministry's statement added.

A previous incursion by the RDK took place in late May. The attack left one civilian dead and 12 people injured, the Russian authorities said at that time. The Russian Defense Ministry announced in the wake of the raid that "over 70 Ukrainian terrorists, four armored combat vehicles, and five pickup trucks" had been destroyed in the militants' clash with the Russian forces.

Photos and videos released by the Russian ministry showed Western armored vehicles and equipment used by the Kiev-backed militants before being destroyed by the Russian troops. The Pentagon and the US State Department expressed doubts regarding the authenticity of the images.

The Washington Post reported on Saturday that the sabotage group had used equipment and small arms provided by several NATO nations, including the US.

Comment: The group includes Polish mercenaries, who released a statement today claiming involvement in the latest raid.

The announcement, accompanied by alleged photo and video evidence, was shared on social media accounts of the so-called "Polish Volunteer Corps."

The statement appears to refer to an incursion by saboteurs into the Grayvoron District of Belgorod Region, which took place on May 22.

The "Polish Volunteer Corps" said it unequivocally confirmed its role in the operation, stating that the group collaborated with the Russian Volunteer Corps, a neo-Nazi unit of Russian nationals fighting on behalf of Ukraine under the authority of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry.

In a bid to prove its role in the May 22 raid, fighters from the Polish Volunteer Corps shared videos, in which they can be seen with Ukrainian T-72B tanks, American HMMWV armored vehicles, and Mi-8 helicopters of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

The governor of Belgorod Region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, also mentioned the presence of Polish citizens among the saboteurs. On his Telegram channel, he recounted the story of a woman, whose husband - a member of the local self-defense forces - was killed in front of her. According to Gladkov, the woman was held captive by two Ukrainians, and she stated that the other group members were Poles and Americans.

Previously, the Main Directorate of Intelligence (GUR) of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry discussed the involvement of the "Russian Volunteer Corps" and members of the "Freedom of Russia" legion in the Belgorod Region operation.

However, the "Russian Volunteer Corps" issued a statement on Sunday denying that members of the "Polish Volunteer Corps" had crossed the Russian border. The group claimed on social media that their Polish fellow combatants were involved in tasks such as prisoner escort, along with military and medical logistics, but strictly within the borders of Ukraine.

Warsaw has insisted it has nothing to do with the Polish militants fighting for Kiev. "The activities of Polish volunteers supporting Ukraine in the fight against Russia should not be identified with the authorities of the Republic of Poland", said Stanislaw Zaryn, spokesman for the coordinating minister of the country's special services.

Reader Comments

Defoe · 2023-06-05T11:50:06Z

Isn't funny that this War Spectacle has spilled into Russian domain while there is an absolute silence on a more than 100 mile front line in Luhansk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv regions. Why isn't anybody wondering about that?

How is it possible to complain about shortage of every possible ammunition and at the same time being able to arm some Russian freedom clowns who would sneak into Russian completely unnoticed? At the front line in Luhansk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv regions Russia has deployed around 300.000 soldiers and it's a dead silence. Nobody seems to f-king notice it, it's if people have all forgotten about Russian army still sitting in Ukraine. But everybody is talking about this stupid circus around "attacks" on some villages in Belgorod.

How did this big group of morons armed to the teeth and driving big military trucks get through the Russian border without being spotted and taken out by "Russia's superb air jets" is a military conundrum.

But on the second thought, in a War Show everything is possible.

Just try to enjoy it without analyzing and scrutinizing it and everything will make perfect sense