Russian volunteers set up meeting with governor of Belgorod region. Belgorod governor agrees to meet with Russian volunteers

On Sunday, June 4, 2023, the commanders who led the raid in Russia's Belgorod region appealed to the regional head Vyacheslav Gladkov

They ask him to come and take away two captured soldiers of the Putin-controlled army. This is stated in a joint video message of the Free Russia Legion and the Russian Volunteer Corps, posted on Telegram. 

“Today is a great Orthodox holiday - the Trinity. And we, representatives of the Russian Volunteers Corps and Legion, offer to exchange two prisoners for a few minutes of communication with you in the church. Without weapons. If you come to the church in Novaya Tavolzhanka before 5:00 pm today, we will exchange these two prisoners for the opportunity to talk to you about the fate of Russia, the unnecessary bloody war that has been going on for a year and a half, and now is being waged in your Belgorod region,” the Russian Volunteers Corps leader Denis Kapustin (aka White Rex) said on behalf of the commanders.

“So today, until 5:00 pm, you have the opportunity to talk without weapons and take home two Russian citizens, ordinary soldiers whom you and your political leadership sent to this slaughterhouse. See you!” Kapustin emphasized.

The video was recorded in a hospital room, next to the man on the operating table.

Nova Tavolzhanka, where they say Russian opposition fighters are now being held, is located between the border and the town of Shebekino.

The volunteers call Shebekino the target of their second raid on the Belgorod region.

At 4:54 pm, Gladkov released his response, agreeing to a meeting to pick up the prisoners, but in another city.

“If they are alive, let's meet at the Shebekino checkpoint from 5:00 pm to 6:00 pm,” he said.

What is happening in the Belgorod region

On May 22, the Free Russia Legion and the Russian Volunteer Corps announced the liberation of Kozinka and Gora Podol in the Belgorod region of the Russian Federation and the entry of their advanced units into the city of Graivorona.

On June 2, the Russian Volunteers Corps and the Free Russia Legion launched a second offensive in the Belgorod region. This time, Russian partisans focused on the town of Shebekino.

Yesterday, on June 3, the 'legionnaires' accused Putin's troops of chaotic shelling of the Belgorod region and offered the residents of the region to evacuate to the interior of Ukraine.

“The border area in the Belgorod region is rapidly turning into a gray zone (on the part of the Russian Federation): abandoned houses, abandoned residents, complete absence of local administration and police representatives... The Russian Volunteers Corps is trying to gain a foothold in this suddenly formed gray zone in order to restore order later,” the RVC informed on June 3.

On the morning of June 4, volunteers reported fighting on the outskirts of Shebekino.