The governor of Russia’s Belgorod region on the border with Ukraine said on Sunday that fighting was ongoing on his side of the frontier and acknowledged pro-Ukrainian forces had taken Russians prisoner during cross-border clashes.

As Vyacheslav Gladkov added, he was ready for talks to retrieve Russians from the saboteur fighters who say they have taken Russian soldiers prisoner in the Belgorod region.

It was the first time a Russian official had admitted to the capture of prisoners on Moscow’s territory by pro-Ukraine forces during the more than 15 months of war.

The pro-Kyiv groups made up of Russians, the Russian Volunteer Corps and the Legion for Freedom of Russia, had earlier called on the Belgorod governor to meet fighters and retrieve captive soldiers.

Gladkov also said that fighting was ongoing in the border village of Novaya Tavolzhanka.