DATE=12/16/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=RUSSIA / CHECHNYA CLASH (L-UPDATE)
NUMBER=2-257210
BYLINE=PETER HEINLEIN
DATELINE=MOSCOW
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Russian officials are hotly denying
Western news reports of a clash in the Chechen
capital, Grozny, that left more than 100 federal
troops dead. As we hear from V-O-A Moscow
correspondent Peter Heinlein, a government
spokesman is suggesting the reports are part of
an anti-Russian propaganda campaign.
TEXT: Two Western news agency correspondents say
they saw the bodies of Russian soldiers strewn
across Grozny's Minutka Square amid the
smoldering shells of destroyed tanks and armored
vehicles. Reporters Maria Eismont of Reuters and
Ruslan Musayev of the Associated Press say they
counted at least 100 corpses.
Their reports told of a three-hour battle in the
square, in which a force of as many as two-
thousand rebel fighters ambushed an armored
column, hitting the Russian tanks with rocket
propelled grenades.
But in a series of interviews and statements
widely broadcast on Russian television, officials
from several government agencies categorically
denied any such incident occurred. Deputy Army
Chief of Staff General Valery Manilov called the
Western reports malicious lies.
/// MANILOV ACT IN RUSSIAN, THEN FADE TO ///
He says, "This is not information, it is
disinformation." He told reporters there had
been no clash, and no tank advance on Minutka
Square. The general, who earlier this week
predicted federal troops would capture Grozny
within days, said there had been, and would be,
no attempt to storm the city.
Alexander Zdanovich, spokesman for the Federal
Security Service, the main successor agency to
the Soviet K-G-B, said reports of the clash
appear to be aimed at influencing Sunday's
nationwide parliamentary election. He accused
foreign intelligence agencies of manufacturing
the news to undermine support for the war effort
in the eyes of voters.
///ZDANOVICH ACT IN RUSSIAN, THEN FADE TO ///
He says, "This is an active operation conducted
by foreign special services using
correspondents." Mr. Zdanovich noted that many
Western agencies employ Chechen reporters in
Grozny and said those journalists are working
under rebel pressure.
/// OPT ///
The battle in Minutka Square appears to be the
fiercest clash between Russian troops and rebel
fighters since federal troops crossed into
Chechnya more than two months ago. Chechen
military sources have for several days been
reporting ground fighting in and around the city,
but those reports have not been independently
confirmed.
Analysts, however, rejected suggestions the tank
advance might mark the beginning of the
anticipated ground invasion of Grozny. One
veteran observer said it appears as if the
Russians may have lost their way in the city and
accidentally driven into the rebel stronghold,
where they were an easy target for Chechen
fighters.
/// END OPT ///
Following the clash, Russia unleashed a fresh
barrage of rocket and artillery fire on Grozny.
Reports from the city Thursday said the Minutka
Square district was coming under especially heavy
attack.
The A-V-N military news agency said Moscow is
dispatching another elite regiment of about two-
thousand troops to the Caucasus from its current
base near Kazakhstan. Russian media reports say
there are already more than 100-thousand federal
troops in and around Chechnya. (Signed)
NEB/PFH/GE/KL
16-Dec-1999 07:37 AM EDT (16-Dec-1999 1237 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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