December 3, 1999
Web posted at: 10:59 a.m. EST (1559 GMT)

From staff and wire reports

ARGUN, Russia (CNN) -- Russian military commanders retracted earlier claims that they had taken a key Chechen town outside Grozny on Friday, reporting instead that Russian forces have surrounded Argun and shelled Islamic militants who are inside the town.

The badly mismatched militants -- 500 rebels are reportedly battling 20,000 Russian soldiers -- have held off the Russians for three days on Grozny's doorstep. Argun is just five kilometers (three miles) outside the Chechen capital.

South of Grozny, where Russian forces have made little headway, a column of Chechens fleeing the fighting reportedly came under Russian fire. Survivors of the attack, on several cars and a bus, said at least 50 people were killed. The report could not be confirmed either independently or by Russian officials.

Russian troops have faced little resistance during their slow march from Chechnya's northern border -- towns such as Gudermes and Achkhoi-Martan surrendered without a shot fired when town leaders persuaded the rebels to evacuate. But as they neared Grozny, militant opposition stiffened.

Russia entered Chechen territory more than two months ago after Islamic rebels twice invaded the neighboring Russian republic of Dagestan from Chechnya, a rebellious Russian republic left out of Moscow's control following the disastrous 1994-1996 war.

VIDEO CNN's Steve Harrigan is with the Russian troops. (December 3) Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K     MESSAGE BOARD Russia's future

The Defense Ministry has relied on airstrikes and artillery fire to push the rebels back, seeking to avoid the heavy casualties that doomed the earlier war. The mission, officials say, is to eradicate the militant fighters they also blame for a series of deadly bombings inside Russian territory.

Chechnya's leadership and the rebels deny responsibility for the bombings.

Russian troops have made little progress into the heart of Chechnya to the south of Grozny, where the rebels maintain control. And while the Russians push to surround the Chechen capital, their commanders insist they have no plans to invade.

The capital has reportedly been heavily fortified, but the Russians say Grozny is not as important as Chechen rebel fighter Shamil Basayev.

Russian Gen. Troshev

"The Chechens themselves are afraid of Basayev," said Russian Gen. Gennady Troshev. "He holds them in terror. The war ends when Basayev is destroyed -- it ends in one day."

Western criticism of the Russian campaign, Troshev said, is misplaced.

"(The local people) say that they see the Russian army is the only force that can free them from these bandits," he said. "They are fed up, they are tired of everything."

"It's too bad that in the West, thousands of kilometers (miles) away, someone is passing judgement without knowing what is really going on here," he added.

Russia's Foreign Ministry also denounced Western criticism as "at the very least cynical" in light of NATO's 78-day bombing of Yugoslavia during the Kosovo crisis earlier this year. Russia strenuously opposed that offensive.

Western and Islamic leaders have repeatedly expressed concern over Chechen civilians enduring the Russian bombs and the more than 200,000 refugees who have fled the fighting into nearby Russian republics.

Correspondents Steve Harrigan and Matthew Chance and Reuters contributed to this report.