Chechen Rebels Down Copter, Killing 15, Russia Says

Rebels holding out in Chechnya’s southern mountains shot down a Russian helicopter that was targeting the militants’ last strongholds, killing 15 troops, Russia’s interior minister said Saturday.

The Russians have squeezed the Chechens into a few regions in the breakaway republic’s rugged south and concentrated air and artillery fire Saturday on the Argun and Vedeno gorges.

Russian warplanes and helicopters flew more than 150 missions in Chechnya over the previous 24 hours, striking targets in the two gorges, the military command said.

Interior Minister Vladimir B. Rushailo said rebels shot down a Russian helicopter Friday, sending it plunging 50 yards into “one of the gorges in southern Chechnya.”

“Yesterday was a tragic day,” he told reporters Saturday during a visit with wounded soldiers at a Moscow hospital.

He said 15 servicemen were killed, but he provided no further details.

Rushailo discussed the conflict during a meeting later Saturday with acting President Vladimir V. Putin, who launched the war last September.

Most of the rebels have retreated to the mountains since abandoning the capital, Grozny, to federal forces this month and are hoping to wage a prolonged guerrilla war from the heights.

The military estimates that 7,000 fighters are based in the mountain passes.

Col. Gen. Valery L. Manilov, deputy chief of the Russian general staff, said Friday that federal forces now control most of the strategically important areas in Chechnya. He showed reporters a map depicting the latest concentrations of rebels, and said that “the area where the militants can still stay is shrinking.”

On Saturday, sappers continued defusing mines that riddle roads, bridges and the few remaining buildings in Grozny, Russian television reported.

The military command sealed Grozny until at least March 1. Russian officials say the capital must be closed to thwart possible attempts by rebels to sneak in disguised as civilians, and to give sappers time to defuse mines planted amid the ruins.

In Moscow, meanwhile, about 100 protesters demanding an end to the war sent hundreds of blue balloons with the words “No War” sailing over the city. Antiwar protests have been rare, since most Russians support the offensive because of widespread crime and violence in and around Chechnya in recent years.

The protesters, who included members of the respected Soldiers’ Mothers Committee, also demanded an end to Russia’s mandatory military draft. Many of the troops in Chechnya are conscripts.