Guerrillas Hit Russian Troops Deep in Western Chechnya

Rebels invaded a village deep in Russian-held western Chechnya on Saturday, while smaller clashes were reported throughout the breakaway republic and four Russian police were killed by a mine, the military said.

After a few days’ lull in large-scale battles, a group of rebels entered Samashki, near Chechnya’s border with the Russian republic of Ingushetia, Russian news reports said. Federal troops were battling guerrillas, the military said.

A Defense Ministry spokesman in Moscow denied that the rebels had gained any ground in Samashki. He said Russian troops found a rebel band hiding in the woods outside the village Saturday and pounded it with artillery.

He would not comment on casualties or say how the rebels reached Samashki, which is deep in the area that Russian troops wrestled away from Chechen rebels last fall.

The raid highlighted the damage guerrillas can still inflict on federal troops, even though the Russians occupy most of Chechnya.

The invasion came a day after Russian authorities banned nonmilitary travel around Chechnya, citing fears of rebel attacks ahead of the Russian presidential election today. Troops guarded polling stations around the republic, and election officials brought ballot boxes to refugee camps in neighboring Ingushetia for displaced Chechens.