Russians Escalate Assault on Chechnya

Russia launched what it called a new and final phase of its war against Chechnya on Friday, raining hundreds of rockets and bombs in its fiercest attack yet on the republic’s capital and chasing separatist guerrillas into the southern mountains.

“Our objective is the complete liberation of the entire territory of the Chechen Republic,” said Col. Gen. Valery L. Manilov, first deputy chief of the General Staff.

Manilov’s announcement was the first clear statement from the Russian command that it will not be content to isolate the rebels in their mountain villages or stop short of total victory.

It also indicated that Moscow intends to take on the rebels in the two locations--the mountains and the capital, Grozny--where Russian forces suffered their worst defeats in a 1994-96 war that ended with the republic’s de facto independence.

Manilov claimed that Russia controls more than half of Chechnya, and boasted that it will regain control of most of the remaining territory by year’s end.

“The second stage of the counter-terrorist operation is over,” the general said. “The troops are beginning the third stage. Its purpose is to complete the destruction of the gangs in their bases in the mountains and foothills of the Chechen Republic--and creating conditions for the return of refugees to their homes.”

The new bombardment of Grozny began overnight and lasted until dawn Friday, leaving the city wrapped in orange smoke. The Reuters news service reported that a stream of refugees left the battered city, waving white flags to deter attacks as they headed to camps and safety in the neighboring Russian republic of Ingushetia.

Manilov said Russian forces have no plans for now to storm Grozny, where the Chechen forces have had weeks to prepare defenses. In 1996, the Russians were embarrassed when a band of 1,500 Chechen fighters launched a sudden assault and seized control of the capital from 12,000 Russian troops.

The humiliation of that defeat is widely considered a driving force in the Russians’ new campaign to retake the territory, though the government says its campaign is in response to terrorist attacks in Moscow and elsewhere and rebel incursions into the Russian republic of Dagestan.

So far, the Russians have avoided close combat with the rebels, preferring to strike with aircraft and shell with heavy artillery from a safe distance until the Chechens abandon their positions. It is not clear whether the same strategy will work in Grozny, which has enormous symbolic importance for the Chechens.

Chechnya’s dominant warlord, Shamil Basayev, told the Interfax news agency that ground battles “are inevitable” and hinted that the rebels have been holding back for the past several weeks.

“The Russian army has been given a chance to spread throughout the flat part of Chechnya,” Basayev said. “And now the war is entering its decisive phase.”

Manilov said the overnight bombing of Grozny was aimed at “verified targets and places where bandits are concentrated.” However, wire services reported heavy civilian casualties.

“The operation to liberate Grozny is already underway,” Manilov said. “I can repeat that no frontal storming is planned. However, Grozny will be cleansed of bandits.”

It is unclear how large a toll the fighting is taking on either side. To date, Russia claims to have killed 6,500 Chechen fighters while losing only 305 servicemen, about two-thirds of them in Chechnya and the rest in Dagestan. The Chechens have taken issue with that tally but have not released new figures.

Manilov declined to estimate how many civilians might have died in the Russian attacks but repeated government assertions that they are “minimal.”

“Of course, I cannot rule out some casualties among the peaceful population because bandits and terrorist use hostages and civilians as human shields to protect themselves,” he said.

The new assault on the Chechens comes as President Boris N. Yeltsin has retreated to his country residence with acute bronchitis. Although Russians express little interest in the president’s frequent illnesses, his absences have a tendency to set the political rumor mill spinning.

“Boris Nikolayevich’s condition is satisfactory at the moment,” the president’s doctor, Sergei P. Mironov, told reporters. “But at the same time, he still coughs, he has a fever, and his voice is hoarse. I think that the treatment and rehabilitation course will take about a week to 10 days.”

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Russians Step Up Campaign

Hundreds of rockets and bombs strike Grozny as the Russian military launches a new phase of its offensive against Chechnya.

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Source: Associated Press