DATE=4/24/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=RUSSIA / CHECHNYA (L)
NUMBER=2-261656
BYLINE=PETER HEINLEIN
DATELINE=MOSCOW
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Rebel fighters have ambushed a Russian
military convoy in Chechnya, killing at least 15
soldiers. As we hear from VOA's Peter Heinlein in
Moscow, a weeklong lull in the Chechen conflict
appears to be over.
TEXT: Chechen rebel spokesman, Movladi Udugov, says
80 Russians died, and a convoy of 13 tanks and armored
cars was destroyed in the ambush. It occurred about
25 kilometers southeast of the Chechen capital,
Grozny.
But the Kremlin disputes the rebel account. Spokesman
Sergei Yastrzhembsky says only 15 soldiers died. He
tells reporters a quick response by federal forces
prevented a heavier casualty toll.
///YASTRZHEMBSKY ACT IN RUSSIAN, THEN UNDER TO.///
He says, "Helicopters immediately began a fierce
battle, backed up by artillery and air strikes." Mr.
Yastrzhembsky says the rebel attack was repelled, and
as many as 20 Chechen fighters killed.
There was no independent confirmation of the
reports. Both sides routinely exaggerate enemy
casualty figures while underplaying their own.
But the clash is just one of several over the past 48
hours that ends a week-long lull in Russia's military
offensive in Chechnya. A senior Interior Ministry
official is quoted as saying the surge of hit-and-run
attacks by Chechen fighters might signal the beginning
of a major rebel operation.
The semi-official Interfax news agency reports federal
troops are planning to step up their campaign in the
coming days.
/// OPT /// The fighting undermined hopes for a
political settlement that were raised last week when a
respected Moscow newspaper quoted Chechen President
Aslan Maskhadov as saying he had ordered a cease-fire.
Mr. Maskhadov later denied having made the comment.
/// END OPT ///
Russia's military offensive in Chechnya began last
September. Federal troops quickly swept over the
northern third of the breakaway region, then took
another third after a campaign of destruction that
flattened scores of towns and cities, including
Grozny.
But the offensive has bogged down in the southern
mountains, the last big area under rebel control.
/// REST OPT ///
Chechen fighters using guerrilla tactics have
inflicted heavy casualties on federal troops.
Last month, 43 Russians died in an ambush in the
lowlands of southeastern Chechnya. A month earlier,
84 members of an elite paratrooper unit perished in a
similar incident in the mountainous Argun Gorge
region.(Signed)
NEB/PFH/GE/JO
24-Apr-2000 11:18 AM EDT (24-Apr-2000 1518 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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