The pro-Ukrainian groups fighting on Russian soil have captured two Russian soldiers.
The groups demand a meeting with the region’s governor Vyacheslav Gladkov to release the prisoners.
During the Sunday evening, the parties will meet.
Vyacheslav Gladkov, governor of the Russian Belgorod region, says that two Russian soldiers have been captured by the pro-Ukrainian militia groups the Russian Freedom Legion and the Russian Volunteer Corps, reports the AFP news agency.
The group has said in a previous statement that it demands a meeting with Gladkov to release the soldiers. The groups have also published images of what they claim is a wounded Russian soldier.
“Until 5 p.m. today, you have the opportunity to talk without weapons and bring home two Russian citizens, ordinary soldiers whom you and your political leadership sent to slaughter,” the statement read according to Sky News.
Agrees to meeting
On Telegram, the governor writes that he will now reluctantly attend the meeting to talk to the groups.
“They probably killed them, although it is with a heavy heart that I say that. But if they are still alive, from 17-18 in Shebekino. I offer security guarantees,” the governor writes about the meeting.
He also called the groups “crooks” and “murderers”.
“I hope they are all killed,” he writes.
According to Gladkov, fighting is taking place on Russian territory, including in the community of Shebekino where around 40,000 people live. AFP reports that thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes after attacks in the area.
Fierce battles on Russian soil
Russian authorities say at least seven people have been killed on Friday and Saturday in and around Shebekino, which is just a few kilometers from the border with Ukraine.
– We left after three days of shelling, after two terrifying nights, says 30-year-old Irina Burlakova to the news agency that is on the ground in the area.
She and thousands of others have made their way to a hub in Belgorod set up after recent attacks on Russian soil.