Russia Tests Defenses in Chechen Capital

A column of Russian armored vehicles probed deep into Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, on Wednesday, clashing with rebel defenders just hours after Moscow again rejected international mediation of its conflict with the breakaway southern republic.

The Russian incursion, reported by Western news agencies citing local witnesses, appeared to be the largest and deepest probe so far into the besieged city, which has been under attack for months. Chechen commanders told the news agencies that they had successfully repelled the Russian attack.

There was no immediate confirmation of the clash from the Russian side. Military officials insist that they do not plan to storm the city but have acknowledged that small groups of ground forces are making forays into the capital to test the Chechen defenses. The news agencies reported that anywhere from several to 100 Russian soldiers may have died in the clash near Minutka Square, near the city center.

Russians have been pounding the city with bombs and rockets but have been reluctant to move in with ground troops, fearing heavy casualties.

The clash in Grozny came on the same day that Knut Vollebaek, chairman of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, visited a refugee camp in the neighboring Russian republic of Ingushetia--part of a tour, reluctantly agreed to by Russia, to assess humanitarian conditions in the region.

It also came hours after the Chechen president, Aslan Maskhadov, appealed to Vollebaek to mediate a political settlement to the conflict--a proposal immediately rejected by Russian officials.

Maskhadov “cannot be a productive representative and participant in negotiations until he disassociates [himself] from terrorists and bandits, from their bloody business,” said Gen. Valery Manilov, first deputy chief of the General Staff.

The Chechen president has been calling for outside mediation for many weeks and has also been seeking talks with the Russian leadership--but without success.

“I will not turn down any proposals for political dialogue if they could hasten a peaceful resolution to the crisis by even an hour,” Maskhadov told Russia’s Interfax news agency.

Russia’s emergency situations minister, Sergei K. Shoigu, has agreed to meet Maskhadov but not to talk about a political settlement. The only areas of discussion would be humanitarian matters such as how to ensure that civilians can escape Grozny and to improve conditions in the refugee camps.

The camp in Nazran that Vollebaek visited was pocked with ankle-deep mud puddles. One Chechen man told him that children wake in the morning crying because it is so cold. Two to three families live in each tent, and there is not enough firewood for warmth and cooking.

As Vollebaek passed by, groups of women called out to him to stop the war.

Russia assented to Vollebaek’s tour at a summit of the 56-nation OSCE in Istanbul, Turkey, last month, after months during which President Boris N. Yeltsin came under heavy pressure to stop the Chechen war and negotiate a settlement.

The war broke out in early October when Moscow retaliated for a series of apartment bomb blasts in Russia, which officials blamed on Chechen rebels. No firm evidence has been produced for the accusations.

The Russian attacks also followed an incursion by Chechen rebels into the neighboring Russian republic of Dagestan in the summer.

Vollebaek is not the first Western official to visit the refugee camps, but his trip symbolizes the continuing Western pressure on Russia to stop the war against Chechnya, where bomb and artillery attacks on villages are exacting a high civilian toll.

The OSCE chairman was to visit northern Chechnya on Wednesday, but low fog prevented helicopters from flying, so the mission was postponed until today.

Vollebaek’s trip drew a warm welcome from refugees who cried out in gratitude that he came to see the situation for himself. One Chechen man who spoke at length to Vollebaek said the people of Chechnya put all their hope in the OSCE and its mission to end the war. He said the Russian attacks on Chechen villages were killing civilians.

“When Britain wants to stop terrorism, you don’t see it bombing Belfast,” he said.

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Dixon reported from Nazran and Reynolds from Moscow.