Rebels, Troops Break Chechnya Truce Immediately

Despite a cease-fire that was scheduled to go into effect in Chechnya on Saturday, fighting broke out in the war-torn republic and Russian authorities accused Chechen rebels of breaking the truce.

An agreement to stop all hostilities had been negotiated in a Kremlin meeting last week, with Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin presiding over the talks with Chechen leaders.

But Russian news services reported that a group of armed Chechens attacked a checkpoint Saturday that Russian soldiers had set up outside a village in the Nozhai-Yurt district on the western edge of the mostly Muslim republic.

The Chechens captured 26 Russian soldiers, according to a statement by the Russian commission charged with overseeing contacts with the separatist Chechens, the Interfax news service reported.

“This is a direct violation of the agreements signed in Moscow,” the commission said.

A spokesman for the Chechen armed forces headquarters told Interfax that the Russian soldiers were captured as “an act of revenge” for the death of a field commander during a clash Friday.

The spokesman said the captives will be released only if the Russians free 10 Chechen policemen and rebel fighters captured during the Friday clash.

The continuing hostilities boded poorly for future peace in the republic, which has suffered through more than 17 months of warfare, and for the boost Yeltsin had hoped the accord would give his difficult reelection bid.

At least 30,000 people, most of them civilians, have been killed in the fighting, and the crisis weighs heavily on Russians as they prepare to vote in the hotly contested June 16 presidential election.

Yeltsin’s spokesman said the president now doubts that separatist leader Zelimkhan A. Yanderbiyev has the authority to prevent all armed groups of Chechens from using force.

Yeltsin “has reason to believe that [the Chechen leaders] who participated in the Moscow talks are not capable of controlling all rebel units,” spokesman Sergei K. Medvedev told Interfax.

“Those in Chechnya who are firing seem to remain outside the scope of the agreements,” Medvedev added. “This means that Russian troops will retain the right to adequately respond to such action.”

Another conflict Saturday in Chechnya appeared to have been resolved by the end of the day.

Russian soldiers surrounded the town of Shali, trying to force about 150 Chechen rebels out of the town. After several tense hours, the fighters left under pressure by local residents, according to Russian Maj. Gen. Vladimir Shamanov.

The general told Interfax that the events in Shali reflected the ambiguous situation in the republic as a whole.

“On the one hand, the agreement to cease hostilities from June 1 is beginning to be implemented, but on the other, Chechen separatist detachments are continuing provocative forays against federal troops, which may torpedo the Moscow accords,” Shamanov said.

Further negotiations between Russian and Chechen authorities had been scheduled to begin Saturday but were postponed.

Moscow proposed holding them later this week, but it was not yet clear whether the Chechens had agreed to the new date.