Russian Rebels Issue Ultimatum to Kremlin With Prisoners of War

An anti-Kremlin formation that staged an incursion from Ukraine into Russia's Belgorod region has demanded a meeting with its governor to discuss a prisoner exchange.

Paramilitary groups the Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK), along with the Freedom of Russia Legion and the Siberian Battalion, which back Ukraine against President Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion, launched an incursion into Russia's Belgorod and Kursk regions on Tuesday.

Russian rebels aligned with Ukraine conducted similar operations last year, which forced the evacuation of residents in border areas and a battle with Russian forces that ended in the groups retreating back into Ukraine.

In a video released Saturday and posted on X, formerly Twitter, by pro-Ukrainian account WarTranslated, an unnamed member of the RDK said that the Russian Ministry of Defense (MOD) had lied when it claimed that the corps had been eliminated following Tuesday's operation. Newsweek has emailed the Russian Defense Ministry for comment.

The clip also shows what it claims is an interview with a Russian soldier, who said he had been captured on Friday during a mine-clearing mission and was the only member of his group to survive after their vehicle came under fire. Newsweek has as yet been unable to verify all these claims.

When asked if he agreed with the Russian MOD statement that 500 rebels had been killed and 18 tanks were lost in the clashes with Moscow's forces, the purported prisoner replied, "I don't think the data is correct," and that "I didn't see that many dead."

The RDK member turns to the camera and says that the captive's account showed that the Russian MOD "is not informing the masses correctly."

The video then shows blurred images of soldiers the group says it has captured, with the RDK member saying that the group had not been destroyed as Russian authorities had claimed. He then calls for a meeting with Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov to discuss the prisoners' fate.

The group also released a separate video it said showed a captured BTR-82A armored personnel carrier captured in May 2023 being used against Russian forces at the border point by the town of Grayvoron.

As Newsweek previously reported, Alexei Baranovsky, a volunteer from the Freedom of Russia Legion, said the rebels intend to eventually march on Moscow with the goal being the ensuing liberation of Russia from Putin.

Baranovsky added that the rebel operation had been timed to coincide with the Russian elections in which Putin is assured of remaining in power.

After Tuesday's incursion, Andriy Yusov, spokesman for Ukraine's military intelligence agency GUR, said Russian volunteer groups were not under orders from Kyiv and, when on Russia's territory, "act absolutely autonomously."