Russia Seeks to Quell Doubts Over Shake-Up

Russia’s acting president, Vladimir V. Putin, tried early Saturday to quash speculation about a high-level military shake-up by insisting that the decision to sideline two of the top three generals fighting separatists in the southern republic of Chechnya was purely “technical.”

“Russia does not simply discard generals like [Gennady] Troshev and [Vladimir] Shamanov,” Putin said as he left Christmas services at a central Moscow cathedral. “No dismissals have been made, and none are planned.”

News that the generals’ combat command was being turned over to their deputies came Friday at the same time that the military announced a suspension of its bombing campaign against the Chechen capital, Grozny. The moves prompted speculation that Moscow was displeased with the course of the war.

But Putin insisted that the pause in the air and artillery campaign was called for operational reasons as well as to respect two religious holidays--Friday was both the Russian Orthodox Christmas and the last day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Most Chechens are Muslim.

Moreover, Putin repeated explanations that Chechen fighters might be planning to put civilians in danger by using chemical agents and that heavy fog had made the air campaign dangerous.

“The bandits are committing one crime after another. And one of these crimes has been the use of chemical agents that they are trying to direct against the Russian troops. In fact, peaceful civilians may suffer,” Putin said. “And to conduct bomb, rocket and artillery strikes on targets in Grozny in a situation when the visibility is low is also unsafe for peaceful civilians. The actions of our military have been dictated exclusively by concern about peaceful civilians.”

Some observers found Friday’s shift in command at least unusual, however.

“If the anti-terrorist operation is at its final stage, then probably it would have been better not to replace the commanders of the fronts at this stage,” said Anatoly S. Kulikov, a former interior minister who commanded Russia’s forces in Chechnya in 1994-96.

This fall, Russia went to war for the second time against the rebel republic, easily seizing control of the flatlands in the north before launching an offensive against Grozny on Dec. 25. Since then, the government claims to have taken many of the city’s districts, but rebel forces continue to hold much of the center.

Reports from the region suggest that the Russians--who fear close engagement with the seasoned guerrillas--are meeting heavy resistance. The rebels had months to prepare their defenses in Grozny and in the republic’s southern mountains and have said they can hold out for months, if not years.

Russian officials have accused the rebels of twice trying to explode tanks of chlorine, hoping the fumes would waft over Russian forces.

In his remarks, Putin repeated the official explanation that Troshev, who commanded the eastern front, and Shamanov, who commanded the western front, were told to concentrate on other responsibilities so their deputies could gain combat experience.

The two have been vocal supporters of Putin; Shamanov even threatened to resign in October if Putin was removed as prime minister.

However, Shamanov has come under criticism in recent weeks after reports that soldiers under his command may have deliberately killed as many as 40 civilians in December after taking control of the village of Alkhan-Yurt, south of Grozny.

The incident is being investigated by human rights groups.

Western governments and humans rights groups have fiercely criticized Russia for its conduct of the war, saying indiscriminate tactics may have killed thousands of civilians.

Russian news agencies reported Saturday from the Russian military command in the southern city of Mozdok, just outside Chechnya, that troops were using the temporary bombing halt, which appeared to affect only parts of Grozny, to regroup their forces. It was not clear when the suspension might end.

Fighting continued in other regions of Chechnya, especially around the besieged town of Vedeno about 30 miles southeast of the capital.

The Russian military command also reported that, despite inclement weather, fighter aircraft had managed about 20 bombing runs, mostly aimed at targets in the southern mountains.