DATE=12/4/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=RUSSIA/CHECHNYA (L-UPDATE)
NUMBER=2-256844
BYLINE=EVE CONANT
DATELINE=MOSCOW
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: The commander of Russian forces in the North
Caucasus says the Chechen capital, Grozny, is fully
blockaded by Russian troops. Moscow correspondent Eve
Conant also reports Russia's defense ministry has
denied Western media reports that a convoy of up to 40
refugees trying to flee Grozny was fired on by Russian
troops.
TEXT: Russian news agencies quote General Viktor
Kazantsev as saying that Grozny is "fully under
blockade."
Russian forces have been trying to encircle the
capital for weeks, bombarding outlying towns with air
and artillery attacks. Russian military sources say
nearly five-thousand Chechen militants are entrenched
in Grozny and ready to defend the capital.
Chechen military commanders have said Russian forces
were gaining territory in the breakaway republic and
that their fighters had pulled out of several
strategic towns.
The Russian defense ministry has denied Western media
reports that federal troops fired on a refugee convoy
outside Grozny on Friday. The reports quoted injured
refugees at a hospital in the neighboring republic of
Ingushetia as saying several dozen civilians were
killed when Russian soldiers opened fire at close
range on their convoy of vehicles. A defense ministry
statement called the reports "disinformation." The
Russian military has consistently denied reports of
civilian casualties.
The Interfax news agency quotes a statement by the
Russian military as saying federal forces had
destroyed several dozens cars carrying rebel fighters
as they drove along a highway south of Grozny.
Russian commanders had said they wanted to encircle
Grozny by mid-December, but did not want to storm the
capital. Thousands of Russian troops died in ground
battles against Chechen guerillas when they tried to
seize Grozny during the 1994-1996 Chechen war.
(Signed)
NEB/EC/DW/JP
04-Dec-1999 11:26 AM EDT (04-Dec-1999 1626 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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