Russia, Chechen Rebels Make Battle Claims

The Russian military claimed Thursday that its forces have killed about 140 Chechen fighters in street battles in Grozny and halted a series of rebel counterattacks in the shattered city.

Russian efforts to take the Chechen capital appear to be bogged down, with the rebels mounting stiff resistance and pushing federal forces back in some areas. The Russian military command said Thursday that the Chechens launched three counterattacks this week but that they had been defeated.

“We shall destroy them in the near future,” said Maj. Gen. Vladimir Shamanov.

But Chechen commanders insisted that their forces were holding their ground.

“Russian groups have not moved a single meter deeper into the city over the past day,” Isa Munayev, the rebel commander in Grozny, was quoted as saying Thursday by the Interfax news agency.

Munayev said the rebels were taking advantage of thick fog to mount hit-and-run attacks. Federal artillery in the hills outside Grozny heavily shelled the city center.

Russian commanders said that about 40 rebels were killed trying to get through Russian lines and that 100 died in fighting around Grozny’s railway station. Their claims were impossible to confirm. Each side tends to exaggerate the other’s losses.