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DATE=1/11/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=RUSSIA / CHECHNYA (L-UPDATE)
NUMBER=2-257958
BYLINE=EVE CONANT
DATELINE=MOSCOW
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
///// ED'S: REPLACES THIRD GRAPH, DROPS REPORT OF 
TROOPS SURROUNDED BY REBELS, ADDS CIVILIAN CASUALTY 
FIGURES.  CHANGES 1ST LINE OF INTRO.  /////
INTRO:  Russian forces say they have regained control 
of two towns, Shali and Argun, which were partially 
overrun by Chechen rebels.  Moscow Correspondent Eve 
Conant reports Russia's military admits to making 
mistakes that allowed for Chechen rebels to stage 
successful counterattacks and says it is adopting new 
strategies.
TEXT:  Russian General Viktor Kazantsev has 
acknowledged federal troops made, what he called - 
mistakes - that made it easier for Chechen rebels to 
stage surprise attacks on soldiers in Russian-occupied 
Chechen towns.
He says federal troops made themselves vulnerable by 
not properly clearing rebels from the towns of Shali 
and Argun, located near the capital, Grozny.  He said 
from now on tactics would change, and soldiers would 
detain and thoroughly check the documents of all 
Chechen males between the ages of 10 and 60.
Russian media quotes military sources as saying Shali 
and Argun have been retaken by Russian troops.  The 
Interfax news agency reports more than 200 civilians 
were killed during the fighting that followed the 
rebel counterattack in Shali. 
Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev says Russian troops 
will undertake new measures, approved by Acting 
President Vladimir Putin, to stabilize occupied 
regions and prevent further counterattacks.
  /// ACT SERGEYEV IN RUSSIAN IN FULL AND FADE ///
He says the situation has changed completely, the 
security zone has been widened but the organizational 
methods remained the same.  The Defense Minister says 
now there are new, approved measures on how to handle 
the populated areas. 
He says the military's main task is to stabilize Argun 
and Shali and not allow another surprise rebel 
offensive.  Russia's Security Council Secretary says 
the Interior Ministry, the Prosecutor's Office, and F-
S-B - the main successor agency to the K-G-B - will 
also step up their efforts in Russian occupied 
Chechnya.
A Chechen rebel spokesman has called for Moscow 
immediately to begin negotiations or face intensified 
hit-and-run attacks against Russian soldiers.  
Russia's military has been pushed on the defensive in 
several parts of Chechnya.  
Russian artillery continues to attack the rebel 
capital, Grozny, but rebels are still in control of 
the city center.
In a sign that support for the offensive might be 
dwindling, Russian media has begun drawing parallels 
with the present campaign and the botched Chechen war 
that ended in 1996 with a humiliating defeat for the 
Russian army.   (SIGNED)
NEB/EC/GE/ENE/RAE 
11-Jan-2000 11:08 AM EDT (11-Jan-2000 1608 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.