DATE=10/11/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=RUSSIA - CHECHNYA Q&A
NUMBER=2-254864
BYLINE=PETER HEINLEIN
DATELINE=GROZNY
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: VOA Moscow correspondent Peter Heinlein is in
Grozny, Chechnya near the fighting between Russian and
Chechen troops. At approx. 11:30PM,EDT, Sunday, 10-
10-99 he did a Q&A, via Satphone, with Victor Beattie
of VOA NEWS NOW.
TEXT:
Beattie - Last night (Sunday) on Russian television ,
Russian Defense Minister, Igor Sergeyev, sitting right
next to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin,
indicated that they have had requests by Chechens to
liberate Grozny and that they may consider doing just
that. Has there been any reaction in Grozny to these
comments or is Grozny preparing for an attack.
Heinlein - I think it is safe to say that Grozny is
preparing and is very well prepared for an invasion.
President Aslan Maskhadov spoke to journalists on
Sunday and said preparations are in place. He almost
welcomed the advance of Russian troops saying he was
sure they would meet the same fate as when they
invaded in 1994 and 1995 and that is a few months
later they pulled out of Chechnya and Grozny
altogether. This time he said he has three to five
times more troops under arms, in fact a total of 15 to
25-thousand. But I think the initial reaction to Mr.
Sergeyev is a chuckle. Mr. Sergeyev said if he could
find so-called real Chechens who wanted to invade he
would do it. He was referring to Chechens who live in
Moscow. There was a Chechen parliament in exile a few
years ago. It hadn't met for the last two to three
years but it has recently been revived and this group
is talking about the liberated part of Chechnya, that
is the one-third of it that has been taken by Russian
troops.
Beattie - Can you tell us about the offensive, have
you witnessed some of the fighting and air attacks
that have occurred in and around Grozny.
Heinlein - In Grozny , after dark, the sky was lit up
several times last night (Sunday night). People who
know what they hear say it was the sound of rockets
being fired by Russian units. Also there was the
sound of the SU-24 and SU-25 bombers flying missions.
It was a quiet night, not as noisy as the previous
nights. Other people reported hearing bangs and booms
much more frequently than we did at this location a
little bit outside of Grozny.
Beattie - You don't see any material damage.
Heinlein - We don't see any that has been caused in
the last 24 hours. But driving in Chechnya you
certainly see evidence of bombs. We saw of course the
village of Elistanzhi that was hit earlier this week
with about 34 or 35 people killed. We see a lot
bridges out. President Maskhadov told us that 60 to
70 percent of all the bridges in Chechnya have been
hit since this present campaign started a few weeks
ago. So, there is quite a bit of evidence of damage
and the city of Grozny has fewer people than you would
normally imagine in a city with a population of
several hundred-thousand. Certainly uniformed
soldiers in full battle fatigue are quite open and in
evidence in the streets of Grozny and in other cities
and towns in Chechnya.
Beattie - Are people going about their business or do
the streets seem deserted to you.
Heinlein - They're certainly not as busy as they were
last time I was here more than two years ago. That
was after the election of President Maskhadov, after
the last peace agreement. Then the streets were
teeming with people. Here the markets are still open
and you can still buy food, you can still find shops
that are open and there are still cars on the street
but its nothing like you might have expected even a
month ago.
Beattie - Peter, on the diplomatic front, Mr.
Maskhadov has a peace plan on the table in exchange
for an end to the fighting. He is going to neutralize
rebels operating out of the republic. Has there been
any response from Moscow, has he indicated that he has
received any response from Moscow.
Heinlein - No, none at all, in fact during an
interview I had with him on Sunday, he said he could
meet with President Yeltsin and get everything settled
but with Mr. Yeltsin in the hospital, other people are
in charge like Prime Minister Putin and would take a
much tougher line. Mr. Maskhadov in speaking with
journalists on Sunday did not refer specifically to
any new peace plan. He spoke at length about other
plans and ideas that he has. He didn't speak of a new
peace offer and he is certainly not ready to make any
concessions at this point. Mr. Maskhadov sounded
quite confident about the ability of his fighters to
hold, especially the mountainous region and the area
around Grozny. The flatlands in the north have
already been taken, they are much harder to defend.
But Mr. Maskhadov said his troops were fully capable
of defending the area of about a 25 kilometer radius
around Grozny. He said the line about 20 kilometers
north of the city, is being stoutly defended. He said
that he has instructed his people to make a few
selected strikes to, as he said, sober up the Russian
generals so that they don't just take the land and
consider it safe. Mr. Maskhadov has really not
sounded in a conciliatory mood and as far as the armed
gangs referred to in some news stories, he doesn't
really consider them armed gangs, he considers them
Chechen fighters. He did not say he has any plans to
reign them in. He did say they would work with him in
the event of an attack.
NEB/VB/PH/PLM
NEB/WTW/
11-Oct-1999 01:15 AM EDT (11-Oct-1999 0515 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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