DATE=5/31/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=RUSSIA / CHECHNYA (L)
NUMBER=2-262995
BYLINE=EVE CONANT
DATELINE=MOSCOW
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: A senior Russian official and a Moscow-backed
Chechen official have been killed after their car
drove over at least one remote-controlled mine in the
Chechen capital, Grozny. V-O-A Moscow Correspondent
Eve Conant reports the attack is another embarrassment
for Russia's military in Chechnya.
TEXT: Russia's second-ranking official in Chechnya,
Sergey Zverev, and a deputy to the Moscow-appointed
mayor of Grozny were killed when their car was bombed
in the city's Chernorechiye district. Russian news
agencies quoted local police as saying rebels also
sprayed the vehicle with automatic gunfire.
Sergey Zverev was deputy representative to the Russian
government in Chechnya. The assassination (late
Tuesday) is the first time a high ranking Russian
official has been killed since Russia's military
offensive began last October. Grozny's Moscow-
appointed mayor, Supyan Makhchaev, was injured in the
attack. Russian news agencies said he suffered
moderate head injuries.
Russia's presidential spokesman on Chechnya, Sergey
Yastrzhembsky, suggested the rebels may have been
targeting Grozny Mayor Makhchaev.
Russian top commander Anatoly Kvashnin said his forces
had intercepted a message by Chechen leader Aslan
Maskhakov ordering rebels to punish any Chechens who
were working with Russian forces.
/// ACT KVASHNIN - IN RUSSIAN - FADE UNDER ///
He reads the document which calls for rebels to attack
"any Chechens who have betrayed or shamed their own
people."
/// OPT /// Chechen rebels made no immediate claim
of responsibility for the Tuesday night attack. ///
End opt ///
Russia's military captured Grozny in February and said
they had full control over the city and other
federally occupied territories. Russian troops say
they now have at least 400 rebels trapped in the
region's southern mountains. But Tuesday's attack is
a major embarrassment for the Russian army, and
highlights how rebels can travel freely in many parts
of Chechnya and successfully stage ambushes.
The Chechen rebel website is filled with reports about
the latest rebel attacks on Russian troops, giving
news of each ambush and the number of Russian soldiers
the rebels say they killed. The rebels say they have
killed more than 50 Russian soldiers during the past
few days. Russian officials say federal troops killed
more than 40 rebels in the past 24 hours. But those
figures are impossible to verify. Both sides tend to
exaggerate enemy casualties. (Signed)
NEB/EC/JWH/KL
31-May-2000 07:39 AM EDT (31-May-2000 1139 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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