Russian Forces Advance Into Chechen Territory

Russian ground troops entered Chechnya on Thursday, taking positions on strategic heights near the border and reportedly advancing as far as six miles into the breakaway republic.

The moves followed a week of airstrikes against Grozny, the Chechen capital, that sent nearly 80,000 Chechens fleeing in fear. They raised concern that Russia is on the verge of another full-scale war in Chechnya just three years after a humiliating and costly defeat there.

The end of that war in 1996 gave Chechnya de facto independence but left the republic in ruins and with an ineffective government. Islamic militants, who have thrived in the lawless conditions, invaded the neighboring Russian republic of Dagestan in August, setting off the latest fighting.

The militants, who want an independent Islamic nation in southern Russia, also are blamed by Moscow officials for a series of apartment explosions in Moscow and two other cities in September that killed about 300 people.

Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin confirmed Thursday that “combat operations in Chechnya are already underway.”

Russian forces were taking the high ground inside the border of the breakaway southern territory, at spots north and east of Grozny.

Putin has said that Russia would not rule out a ground invasion, but claimed that any such force would be highly trained and specialized. The government was harshly criticized for sending young, poorly prepared conscripts into battle during the Chechen war.

So far, there have been no reports of ground fighting. But tensions are running high.

A senior Chechen official warned that a Russian ground invasion would unleash heavy fighting--including attacks deep inside Russian territory.

“Russian citizens [will] feel the gruesome nature of the war, the bitterness of losing relatives and friends,” Chechen Defense Minister Magomed Khambiyev told Itar-Tass news agency.

Russia has been bombing suspected rebel bases inside Chechnya for the past several weeks and has targeted sites around Grozny for the past week.

The sound of Russian airstrikes in the surrounding hills echoed through Grozny on Thursday. No casualties were immediately reported.

Elsewhere Thursday, the European Union urged Russia to begin a dialogue with “moderate political forces in Chechnya.”

Russian officials said 78,000 people have fled the airstrikes. Most have gone to the republic of Ingushetia, to the west.

Ingushetian officials said the number of refugees could increase to 200,000.

The United Nations refugee agency said Thursday that it was sending its first relief convoy to the area that evening.