Russia Claims Key Gains in Chechen Fight

The Russian government declared victory Friday in the first phase of its campaign against rebels in Chechnya, saying that it had seized key portions of the separatist republic and will push this weekend toward the capital, Grozny.

“They should expect us anywhere, any time,” said Col. Gen. Viktor Kazantsev, commander of Russian forces in the region. “They should suffer constant losses, and that is exactly what’s happening.”

Kazantsev said Russian soldiers, who occupy a third of Chechen territory and are dug in near Grozny along the Terek River, seized control Friday of the strategic mountaintop village of Goragorsky, from which they can shell the republic’s capital 35 miles to the east.

The announcement came as Russian leaders claimed that they have gained the upper hand over the rebels and are within reach of full victory.

“Now as never before, there is unity between the power ministries--the Interior Ministry, the Defense Ministry, the Federal Security Service,” said Lt. Gen. Igor N. Zubov, Russia’s deputy interior minister. “Conditions are very favorable for successfully completing the Chechen operation.”

With President Boris N. Yeltsin taking a back seat on the issue of Chechnya in recent weeks, the Russian military appears to feel it has free rein to finish a job it left undone after Chechnya’s 1994-96 war for independence. The guerrillas humiliated Russia’s armed forces at the time, wresting control of the republic and gaining de facto independence from Moscow.

“What we fear most of all right now is that our politicians who are sitting in Moscow will order us to stop and once again we will be unable to finish the job,” Maj. Yevgeny Ganyukov, deputy commander of an airborne assault regiment in the region, told the ORT television network Friday.

Russian troops entered Chechnya just over two weeks ago, vowing to destroy “terrorists and bandits” whom they blamed for two incursions into the neighboring Russian republic of Dagestan and for a series of apartment bombings that killed about 300 people.

Russian aircraft have bombed sites throughout Chechnya. Officials insist that the targets were rebel bases, despite evidence of heavy civilian casualties. Troops also have moved into the relatively flat and pro-Russian northern section of Chechnya and are installing civilian officials there.

Moscow’s apparent plan is to set up a pro-Russian government in the recaptured territory. Yeltsin took a step in that direction Friday by naming Nikolai P. Koshman to be the government’s administrator of Chechnya and promoting him to the position of deputy prime minister. Koshman, who had been serving as deputy railways minister, was the republic’s Moscow-backed prime minister until November 1996.

It was not clear whether the Russian troops intend to attack Grozny. Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov, who was elected in 1997 in balloting widely recognized as free and fair, is considered a moderate who is willing to deal with Moscow.

“I do not see any need to take Grozny,” Col. Gen. Vyacheslav Ovchinnikov, commander of Interior Ministry troops nationwide, told reporters in Moscow. “No thrust, no push, nothing like that. We will continue striking at bases harboring mercenaries. Those will be destroyed pitilessly.”

On the ground, the Russian troops are likely to meet far more fierce resistance as they venture deeper into Chechnya, especially if they head toward the republic’s mountainous southern areas. In the past, Russian officials have grossly underestimated the rebels’ numbers and military prowess.

Kazantsev claimed that only 47 Russian soldiers died during the operation of the last two weeks, compared with 1,500 rebels. His tally could not be independently verified. Chechen rebel leaders claim to have killed hundreds of Russians while suffering only minimal losses.

The Russian Defense Ministry said there are only 160,000 people left in Chechnya, which had a prewar population of 1.2 million. An estimated 156,000 refugees have fled in recent weeks to neighboring regions, many of them living in makeshift shelters.

Human Rights Watch complained Friday that Russian officials had closed one section of the border, forcing refugees back inside Chechnya. The group also said that authorities are preventing refugees from traveling to other parts of Russia, where many have relatives who could care for them.

“Russia is sending Chechen refugees back to the very bombs they are fleeing,” said Holly Cartner, executive director of the group’s European division. “This exposes them to mortal danger and is a gross violation of Russian and international law.”