DATE=1/27/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=RUSSIA / CHECHNYA / ANNAN (L)
NUMBER=2-258487
BYLINE=EVE CONANT
DATELINE=MOSCOW
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Russian forces are battling for control of the
Chechen capital, Grozny, as reports of federal
casualties mount. Moscow correspondent Eve Conant
reports the Chechnya offensive is a top issue in talks
between Russian officials and visiting U-N Secretary
General Kofi Annan.
TEXT: Russia's Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev says
the Chechnya offensive is reaching what he calls - a
breakthrough. He conceded Russians were facing heavy
losses, but said rebel casualties were much higher.
Russia's new spokesman on Chechnya, Sergey
Yastrezhembsky, says 93-thousand troops are operating
in Chechnya - the first official statement on the
number of federal soldiers. A Russian general
estimates the number of rebel fighters in Chechnya at
about 11-thousand.
Russian forces are attempting to fight their way
towards a strategic square in the center of Grozny.
They have been hampered by rebel snipers firing from
the bombed-out shells of apartment buildings.
Rebels say fighting continues at a village on the
southern outskirts of Grozny, which federal forces
earlier said they had captured. The French News
Agency quotes rebels as saying they had destroyed a
large convoy of Russian troops in the center of
Grozny. The report could not be independently
confirmed.
Western criticism of the Chechnya offensive is still
growing. U-N Secretary General Kofi Annan is in
Moscow to meet members of Russia's new parliament, but
will also meet with top leaders to discuss the
continuing Chechen conflict.
Mr. Annan is to hold talks Friday with Foreign
Minister Igor Ivanov and Russia's Acting President
Vladimir Putin.
Mr. Ivanov defended the Chechnya offensive at the
Council of Europe meeting (Thursday) in France. The
council is discussing whether to suspend Russia's
membership over human rights abuses in the breakaway
republic. (SIGNED)
NEB/EC/GE/RAE
27-Jan-2000 09:50 AM EDT (27-Jan-2000 1450 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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