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DATE=2/9/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=RUSSIA / CHECHNYA (L UPDATE)
NUMBER=2-258990
BYLINE=BILL GASPERINI
DATELINE=MOSCOW
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO:  Military commanders in Russia say they will be 
using more powerful bombs in their attacks against 
Chechen fighters in the Caucasus Mountains.  As Bill 
Gasperini reports from Moscow, Russia's war against 
the Chechens shifted to the mountains after the rebels 
pulled out of their capital, Grozny.
TEXT:  Russian aircraft have been bombing suspected 
Chechen positions in the mountains for weeks as part 
of the general offensive against the rebel fighters.
But now one-and-a-half-ton bombs have been dropped in 
the strategic Argun Gorge deep in the mountains.  
Military officials say they are the heaviest bombs 
used so far in the Chechen war.
Even so, Air Force Commander Anatoly Kornukov says the 
rugged mountain terrain will make the offensive there 
difficult.
            /// KORNUKOV ACT - IN RUSSIAN -- FADE 
UNDER ///
Commander Kornukov says there are natural breaches and 
caves in the mountains.  He says he does  not  think 
the Chechens have had time to build artificial 
fortifications, so they are using the natural 
fortifications which are stronger.  And so, he says, 
"we have a lot of work to do."
The heavy bombing is part of what commanders call the 
"final phase" of the military operation.
And Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev says the main 
thrust in the mountains has  not  yet begun.  He says 
most ground troops are resting for a few days after 
finally seizing control of the capital, Grozny, last 
week, when most Chechen fighters pulled out.
Russia's aerial bombing is  not  limited to the 
mountains. 
Russian planes have also been pounding several 
villages south of Grozny on the belief that Chechen 
fighters are hiding there.
Villagers escaping from the area say hundreds of 
civilians have been killed or wounded in the past few 
days.
Despite this, the Chechens have vowed to keep up the 
fight, using guerrilla tactics.
In the past two days, fighters have staged several 
hit-and-run attacks against Russian checkpoints, 
striking areas that the Russians have long claimed to 
have under control.  (Signed)
NEB/BG/JWH/JP
09-Feb-2000 14:12 PM EDT (09-Feb-2000 1912 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.