The governor of the Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said that the authorities “cannot enter” the village of Novaya Tavolzhanka. A recording of the live broadcast with Gladkov was published in his official group on VKontakte.
“We can’t enter there yet, we know that there were about 100 people [in the village], according to the report of the head of the district, but the shelling of the last two days does not allow us to clarify the information. Hopefully, as soon as the situation changes, we can get back to persuading people to leave the village.”
Earlier on June 5, the Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK), which is fighting on the side of Ukraine, published a video from the village. Representatives of the RDK claim that they control Novaya Tavolzhanka. In the published footage, people in camouflage clothing with yellow ribbons on their sleeves walk along the street, claiming that this is the same village. "Agency" reports that the video was filmed on the outskirts of Novaya Tavolzhanka.
Later on the evening of June 5, after the governor acknowledged the loss of control over the village, RDK turned to Gladkov on his Telegram channel with questions: “Vyacheslav Vladimirovich, please clarify two points: 1) Why can’t you enter the urban settlement? 2) Who exactly is shelling the settlement?”
On June 4, Gladkov responded to the proposal of the RDK to meet personally with him in the temple of the village of Novaya Tavolzhanka to transfer the captured Russian military. He called the RDK "scoundrels, scoundrels and fascists" and said that in this village there was a battle with a sabotage and reconnaissance group.
Before that, the RDK recorded a video in which he offered Gladkov to hand over the prisoners in Novaya Tavolzhanka. The head of the Wagner PMC, Yevgeny Prigozhin, promised that if no one came for the prisoners, he would send "one of his high-ranking deputies."
Authorities in the Belgorod border region have regularly reported shelling since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. A new massive shelling of the region began on June 1, 2023, it is already known that at least five people were killed during the shelling. On June 4, Belgorod and the region again came under fire, reporting this, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov in the same post congratulated everyone on the Day of the Holy Trinity and wished "God's blessing to every family."