DATE=3/11/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=RUSSIA - CHECHNYA UPDATE (L)
NUMBER=2-260085
BYLINE=BILL GASPERINI
DATELINE=MOSCOW
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Russian troops continue to hunt for Chechen
forces in the Caucasus Mountains. The continuing war
is being discussed this weekend in a meeting between
Acting Russian President Vladimir Putin and British
Prime Minister Tony Blair. Bill Gasperini reports
from Moscow.
TEXT: Russian military commanders say their forces
have defeated Chechen rebels deep in the Caucasus
Mountains where fighting has been
underway for weeks.
Lt. General Gennady Troshev says several thousand
Chechen fighters are on the run near the village of
Ulus-Kert.
The fighters are allegedly under the command of
Chechnya's best-known warlords, Shamil Basayev and
Khattab, who are Russia's most wanted men.
Fighting also continues in the village of
Komsomolskoye, where another rebel group is holding
out against massive Russian firepower.
Aircraft and artillery have been pounding the village
for days.
Russian commanders claim the war in Chechnya is all
but over.
But small groups of fighters have still been able to
mount costly attacks against the Russians.
Yesterday Russian officials said that 156 soldiers had
been killed
over the past week.
They also admitted that over 80 Russian paratroopers
were killed in an intense battle in the mountains.
Russian commanders initially denied reports of the
high death toll.
The Chechen conflict is on the agenda of talks between
Acting President Vladimir Putin and British Prime
Minister Tony Blair.
The two are meeting in Russia's second city of St.
Petersburg, where Mr. Blair arrived on Friday night.
He is the first Western leader to meet Mr. Putin since
former President Boris Yeltsin resigned on New Year's
Eve.
Western governments have often criticized Russia's
brutal crackdown in Chechnya.
However Mr. Blair says differences over the war must
not be allowed to dominate relations with Russia.
After their talks the two men are to attend a new
production of the opera "War and Peace" at St.
Petersburg's famous Marinsky Theater. (Signed)
NEB/BG/PLM
11-Mar-2000 04:19 AM EDT (11-Mar-2000 0919 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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