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DATE=10/22/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=RUSSIA / CHECHNYA (L-UPDATE)
NUMBER=2-255370
BYLINE=EVE CONANT
DATELINE=MOSCOW
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin says 
Moscow's troops were  not  responsible for a series of 
explosions that killed more than 100 people in the 
Chechen capital, Grozny.  Mr. Putin denounced what he 
calls Chechnya's "terrorist regime" during a news 
conference in Helsinki.  But his comments about 
Russian forces appear to contradict a military 
spokesman in Moscow, who says the action in Grozny was 
part of a "special operation" to destroy an illegal 
arms bazaar.  Officials in Chechnya say the victims 
included civilians in a maternity ward and a mosque.  
V-O-A Moscow Correspondent Eve Conant reports.
TEXT:  Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin says a 
series of deadly explosions in Chechnya's capital 
(late Thursday) were most likely the result of in-
fighting between Chechen terrorist gangs.
   /// PUTIN ACT IN RUSSIAN - IN FULL, FADE UNDER ///
"It was a weapons market, a headquarters for bandits," 
he says.  " We can  not  rule out that the explosions 
were a result of clashes between rival gangs."
The Prime Minister says the Russian military is 
conducting special operations to combat terrorism, but 
the Grozny strikes were  not  part of that campaign.
// OPT //  Russia's Defense Minister Igor Sergeev says 
there were  no  missile strikes against the market.
   /// SERGEEV ACT IN RUSSIAN - IN AND FADE UNDER ///
"No  bombs or missile strikes were carried out on 
Grozny," he says.  "But some shooting could be heard, 
and then there was a powerful blast."  // END OPT //
However, an earlier report by Russian military 
spokesman Alexander Veklich indicates there was an 
orchestrated attack on the market.
   /// 1st VEKLICH ACT IN RUSSIAN - IN AND UNDER ///
"A special operation destroyed the arms market as well 
as all weapons, explosives, and arms dealers working 
there," he says.  "I would like to stress that the 
operation was conducted by  non-military  means, 
without using either artillery or warplanes."
Witnesses said dozens of people died in the blasts, 
including women and children who were shopping or 
eating at nearby cafes.  News reports from Chechnya 
say the death toll is likely to rise, because local 
hospitals lack medicine, electricity and heat.  // OPT 
//  Video pictures from Grozny show the destroyed 
market, with the bodies of dead women and children 
lying near the shattered stalls. // END OPT //
But military spokesman Veklich says there is  no  way 
civilians could have suffered from the attack. 
   /// 2ND VEKLICH ACT IN RUSSIAN - IN AND UNDER ///
"Civilians do  not  walk around at night-time in a 
place where weapons are sold to terrorists.  They're 
sitting at home," he says.  "If there were any 
victims, they were arms dealers peddling weapons to 
bandits."
European Union leaders have renewed their call for 
Moscow to negotiate with Chechnya's leadership to find 
a political solution.   But Russian leaders say what 
they describe as their campaign to rout Islamic 
terrorists from Chechnya is an internal, Russian 
affair. 
Russian news reports say government troops are now as 
close as 12 kilometers from the Chechen capital.  
Military leaders have ruled out a full-scale attack on 
Grozny, but have suggested there are plans to surround 
the city with tanks and troops.   (Signed)
NEB/EC/GE/WTW
22-Oct-1999 12:03 PM EDT (22-Oct-1999 1603 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.