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DATE=12/25/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=RUSSIA/CHECHNYA (L)
NUMBER=2-257490
BYLINE=EVE CONANT
DATELINE=MOSCOW
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Russian news agencies report that the all-out 
assault on the Chechen capital Grozny has begun. 
Russian troops on Saturday began to enter the besieged 
capital where tens of thousands of civilians are 
trapped. Moscow correspondent Eve Conant reports 
Moscow has warned Grozny residents to remain in their 
basement hideouts until the assault is over.
TEXT:  Machine gun fire and artillery explosions could 
be heard throughout Grozny as Russian troops advanced 
from several directions. Heavy fighting on the ground 
is reported. Russian news agencies say hundreds of 
pro-Moscow Chechen paramilitaries are leading the 
advance, followed closely behind by Interior Ministry 
troops conducting a door to door sweep for rebels. 
Russian officials however, call the offensive 
"routine" and have avoided describing it as an all-out 
assault on the rebel capital.
The Itar-Tass agency quotes Russia's military as 
saying the attack on Grozny will be carried out in 
three stages, designed to minimize troop and civilian 
casualties. It said the first phase was heavy 
shelling, carried out overnight. The second phase is 
the advance of the pro-Moscow paramilitaries, backed 
up by mortar fire and snipers. Once the paramilitaries 
establish a web of control over crucial districts of 
Grozny, the agency reports troops would then begin the 
third phase to clear all rebels out of the capital.
Chechen commanders say Russian tank columns are using 
smokescreens to protect their advance. Russian news 
agencies say Defense Ministry troops are not involved 
in the assault but are supporting advancing troops 
with artillery fire. Russian journalists at army 
headquarters in southern Russia say more than one 
thousand Chechen rebels are inside the capital, 
operating in groups of fifteen to twenty men. Earlier 
estimates said more than eight thousand rebels had 
entrenched themselves in Grozny.
Russia's civilian envoy to Chechnya has advised the up 
to fifty thousand civilians believed trapped inside 
Grozny not to flee, saying the capital would be freed 
within days. Residents of Grozny have been hiding in 
basement shelters and say they are afraid to leave 
because of constant Russian air and artillery raids. 
(Signed)
NEB/EC/PLM
25-Dec-1999 08:01 AM EDT (25-Dec-1999 1301 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.