DATE=12/10/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=CHECHNYA Q&A
NUMBER=2-257023
BYLINE=PETER HEINLEIN
DATELINE=CHECHNYA, NEAR GROZNY
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: VOA NEWS NOW's Paul Westpheling spoke, by
phone, to VOA correspondent Peter Heinlein at
4:30AM,EST, 12 - 10 -99. Peter Heinlein said he was
just outside of the Chechen capital city Grozny, with
Russian forces, at the time of the Q&A.
TEXT:
Westpheling - How far would you say you are from the
front lines?
Heinlein - We are just outside of Grozny and I think
we are on the front lines right now. We have moved
through a number of soldiers right up to the border of
the city. You can see where the residential areas are
and in the distance you can see some of the larger
buildings of Grozny that still stand. We are very
close to the city, right where the action is.
Westpheling - Are you seeing any refugees coming out
of the Chechen capital to escape what presumably will
be a large scale attack on Saturday?
Heinlein - The refugees that we have seen have really
only been a trickle (small number). The Russians have
not taken us (media) to the corridor (where most of
the refugees are) a little bit north of the city.
This is certainly not where many refugees are coming
out.
Westpheling - Are the Russian troops meeting any
resistance as they get closer to the center of Grozny?
Heinlein - No, as we understand it, the Chechen
fighters are pulling back in the face of the far
superior Russian tanks and armor and rockets and
artillery. They (Chechen fighters) really don't have
the means to compete with that kind of firepower. The
Chechen strategy appears to be to fall back and then
to let the Russian troops occupy the city and then
possibly resort to their classic guerilla tactics that
they used in the last war (1994-1996).
Westpheling - Peter, as far as you know, is the large
scale attack that we have been hearing about (on
Grozny) still on for Saturday?
Heinlein - They (Russians) keep talking about a large
scale attack but not a ground attack. What they are
saying is not going to be a storming of the city.
They (Russian forces) are on the outside of the city,
they have it surrounded, and now they are going to
pepper it (the city) with a heavy air and artillery
bombardment and hope they can level the city to the
extent where it is impossible for the rebels to defend
it. The Russian generals that we have spoken to say
that they have given the civilians a chance, we have
given them a corridor to get out and anybody who is
left in the city we consider a terrorist. By some
estimates there are as many as 40-thousand civilians
in Grozny and not that many have come out in the past
few days according to the readings we get here. The
Russian general we talk to say that is not true and
that there are only about four-thousand civilians in
addition to two to three-thousand fighters in the
city. And they say those people probably don't want to
come out. They say civilian casualties are going to
be unavoidable and they say they will have to suffer
what casualties occur because the object is to flush
out the terrorists. If those people (civilians) stay,
the Russian generals blame the Chechen fighters for
using those people as human shields.
Westpheling - Why, after keeping the media away from
the fighting for so long, is the Russian military
letting you (the media) get so close to the action
now?
Heinlein - Certainly they (the Russians) want to
influence the coverage (of the war). They feel that
much of the coverage so far, especially from reporters
who have not been on the scene, has been
overwhelmingly negative and has focused on the bombing
and the artillery and on the civilian casualties. The
reporters have, for the most part, have only been able
to get to the refugees fleeing to Ingushetia. So they
have brought us (the media) in here to show us they
are trying their best to avoid civilian casualties.
They are trying to show us they are taking all due
care to give the civilians every chance and that the
object is to flush out the terrorists and they have to
do it one way or another, civilians or no civilians.
NEB/PH/PW/PLM
10-Dec-1999 07:14 AM EDT (10-Dec-1999 1214 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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