Russia Begins Major Assault on Chechen Capital

After fierce artillery attacks overnight, Russian and pro-Moscow forces in Chechnya launched a major assault Saturday on Grozny, the separatist republic’s ravaged capital, where tens of thousands of civilians are believed to be still trapped in basements.

The assault was led by an estimated 700 pro-Moscow Chechen volunteers advancing into the city from several directions--the north, northeast, southeast and southwest. They were followed by Russian special forces and Interior Ministry troops.

The Grozny battle marks a decisive new stage in the nearly 3-month-old Chechen war. Rebel fighters, who have retreated from other population centers on the republic’s plains, have been digging in to defend the capital for many weeks and are determined to put up a fierce show of resistance as Russian ground forces prod into the city. The Russian military estimates their number at 1,500 to 2,000.

The Russians, meanwhile, are determined to avoid a repeat of the military fiasco in Grozny at the outset of the 1994-96 war over Chechen independence, when green Russian troops stormed the capital, then were cut off and ruthlessly slaughtered by Chechen fighters.

This time, the Russians have been bombing and shelling the city for months to weaken rebel resistance before launching their main assault, and as they advance into the city, they are using the Chechen volunteers to test the strength of the rebels.

The pro-Moscow Chechen force is led by Beslan Gantamirov, a former Grozny mayor and convicted embezzler who was pardoned and freed by President Boris N. Yeltsin so he could take a lead role against the rebels.

Gantamirov said Saturday that the federal forces--Russian troops and the pro-Moscow Chechens--controlled only the outskirts of the city.

“But I think that in the next few days, the entire city will be taken under our control. In many locations, the fighters render fierce resistance--that’s the main obstacle,” he said.

Russian television aired footage of war-torn Grozny showing plumes of smoke rising above the city. Some Russian estimates have put the number of civilians still there at 40,000 to 45,000, while others give the total as only half that. Reliable numbers are difficult to pin down.

Nikolai P. Koshman, the Russian government representative in Chechnya, said Saturday that the military was trying to avoid hitting the remaining civilians. He said those who had stayed in the city that believed they could survive the fighting.

A figure from the rebel side, Movladi Udugov, said in an interview with the radio station Echo of Moscow that the fighting in Grozny on Saturday was the heaviest so far in the current war. He said the fiercest clashes were unfolding in the northern and southeastern suburbs.

“The advance operation is on a large scale. There has been incessant fighting going on in the capital for about two weeks now, but today it suddenly became much more intense,” he said.

The Russian approach is to probe the city cautiously and, where resistance becomes too fierce, to pull back and pound the fighters’ strongholds with artillery, then try a new attack.

The Russians have the capital surrounded and seem to be aiming to drive the rebels into the city center in a bid to wipe them out. But on many previous occasions, Chechen fighters have succeeded in breaking out of towns and villages under Russian blockade.

The Russian approach could take some time to dislodge the rebels, but it might eventually drive the fighters out of Grozny and into the mountainous terrain of southern Chechnya, as happened during the 1994-96 war. However, the Russians would then face the prospect of a long and draining guerrilla campaign by the Chechens from their mountain bases.

A leading pro-Moscow Chechen official based in Moscow, Malik Saidullayev, told the Interfax news agency Saturday that the operation to take Grozny could take months--a forecast that was in sharp contrast to the optimistic predictions of an early end to the war coming from Russian military officials.

Saidullayev predicted heavy casualties among civilians and both the warring sides in the battle for Grozny. He said the Chechen rebels are formidable opponents.

“These fighters 1/8the Chechen rebels 3/8 are beyond comparison in terms of their combat experience and technical capacities. The militants have many more weapons, including modern ones. They have built fortifications around the entire perimeter of Grozny. The most important thing is that they have learned how to fight,” he said.

The present war began when Russia sent ground forces into Chechnya in early October in reprisal for incursions by Chechen rebels into the neighboring Russian republic of Dagestan over the summer. The Russian invasion was also in response to several apartment house bombings in Russia that authorities blamed on the Chechen rebel leaders.

Russia lost the 1994-96 war to crush Chechen separatists, leaving the republic in effect independent. This time, the Russian generals are bent on emerging victorious.

But Russian military leaders were at pains Saturday to rule out any suggestion of a storming operation to capture the city.

“There will be no storming of the city in the traditional sense of the word. Everything will be done intelligently, to avoid unnecessary losses among Russian troops and civilians,” said a Russian military spokesman, Maj. Alexander Diordiyev.

In another sign that the Russians have learned from past mistakes, Russian soldiers headed for Grozny were painting identification numbers on their backs Friday and Saturday, to avoid being hit by their own side.