DATE=12/17/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=RUSSIA / CHECHNYA (L-UPDATE)
NUMBER=2-257255
BYLINE=EVE CONANT
DATELINE=MOSCOW
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Russia's military has stepped up bombing raids
against the Chechen capital, Grozny, while ground
troops clash with militants on the eastern outskirts
of the rebel capital. V-O-A's Moscow Correspondent
Eve Conant reports Russian troops say they have
blocked a main road leading from southern Chechnya to
neighboring Georgia.
TEXT: Russia's military says air force bombers have
nearly doubled the recent number of sorties over
Chechnya, targeting rebel positions on the outskirts
of Grozny and in Chechnya's southeastern mountains.
But news reports from inside the Chechen capital say
Russian forces are heavily bombing downtown areas,
including the Minutka square, where more than 100
Russian soldiers were reported killed in a Chechen
ambush late Wednesday.
Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin congratulated
Russian paratroopers for dropping into rebel territory
and blocking a key road linking southern Chechnya to
Georgia.
/// PUTIN ACT IN RUSSIAN - IN AND FADE UNDER ///
The Russian prime minister says the operation could
change the whole picture of what he calls Russia's
"anti-terrorist" operation in Chechnya. Russia did
not suffer a single casualty, but Chechen fighters who
guarded the road were - in his words -- "destroyed."
Georgia has denied Russian charges that the road was
used as a rebel supply route.
Clashes between Russia troops and Chechen rebels also
were reported along the eastern edge of Grozny. Rebel
commanders say Russian forces are attacking Grozny
from the east, south, and northwest and that fighting
is focused on a strategic hill overlooking the city.
Thousands of civilians remain trapped in Grozny, many
of them ethnic Russians or residents too infirm or old
to travel. Some estimates say as many as 40-thousand
civilians could still be inside Grozny.
At a meeting in Berlin of foreign ministers from
industrialized nations, the chairman of the European
security organization, O-S-C-E, Knut Vollebaek, warned
of what he called a possible "bloodbath" unless an
immediate cease-fire is called in Grozny. Russian
officials insist that what they call their "anti-
terrorist" campaign in Chechnya is an internal matter,
and they have ignored calls from western leaders to
halt the offensive.
Russian commander Gennady Troshev says troops are
beginning a new phase of military operations.
/// TROSHEV ACT IN RUSSIAN - IN AND FADE UNDER ///
The Russian commander says the next and most difficult
stage of the campaign has begun. "Now we will destroy
the fighters in the mountains," he says. (Signed)
NEB/EC/JWH/WTW
17-Dec-1999 13:10 PM EDT (17-Dec-1999 1810 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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