December 4, 1999
Web posted at: 10:32 p.m. EST (0332 GMT)

In this story: Russians seize outskirts of Argun 'They were all in masks' Moscow to allow OSCE leader visit RELATED STORIES, SITES

From staff and wire reports

ARGUN, Russia (CNN) -- Russian forces are preparing to intensify their assault on Grozny, the Chechen capital, after declaring it surrounded.

Meanwhile, Moscow strongly denied reports from Chechen civilians that masked troops had massacred dozens of people fleeing Grozny.

Kremlin officials say there are no plans to storm Grozny, but Russian forces appeared determined Saturday to bomb the town into submission.

Chechen rebels say they will fight on to hold their ravaged capital. Thousands have reportedly dug in to face any Russian advance, and they say they will show no mercy.

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"We will slit the throats of all mercenaries and pilots on the spot," one rebel fighter said. "Mercenaries kill us for money, and pilots destroy the civilian population. Common Russian soldiers -- if they are captured -- will be put to work to clean up."

The commander of Russian forces in the North Caucasus said on Saturday that Grozny was completely blockaded.

"The city of Grozny is fully under blockade," Gen. Viktor Kazantsev told NTV commercial television. "Yes, today on December 4 I can officially say this." Interfax news agency reported earlier that rebel commanders had conceded Grozny was surrounded.

Russians seize outskirts of Argun

After days of heavy fighting, Russian forces seized the northern outskirts of Argun, encircling the city just east of Grozny, the military said. Argun is a key target in the Russian drive to encircle Grozny.

The advance was complicated, though, by mines planted by retreating rebels, the military said, according to Interfax. The Chechen rebels had built "serious" fortifications, said Col. Yuri Em, who is commanding the Russian operation in Argun, according to the ITAR-Tass news agency.

Russian warplanes bombed Grozny and Urus-Martan, a town 15 kilometers (10 miles) to the south, where rebels are still making a stand. Russian commanders say the town is their next target.

The Russian military planned to open a route out of Grozny on Monday for civilians to leave, Kazantsev said, according to ITAR-Tass. The people would be housed in tent camps set up in the Russian-controlled north of Chechnya, he said.

'They were all in masks'

The Defense Ministry denied that federal troops just outside Grozny had killed dozens of Chechen civilians in a convoy as they fled the city. U.S.-sponsored Radio Liberty reported on Saturday that masked Russian troops had massacred at least 40.

Russia's Defense Ministry labeled accounts of the incident as "disinformation," ITAR-Tass said. Military officials said Russian forces could not be responsible because they had not taken the stretch of road where the attack reportedly took place.

Tatyana Aidamirova, described as a wounded survivor, gave Radio Liberty an account of the alleged attack.

"They came up themselves. Their cannon was a bit further away, and they shot from their rifles right at point blank," Aidamirova told Radio Liberty.

"They checked the cars. They saw that dead people were lying there. They did not explain anything. They were all in masks, and so satisfied, as if that was the way it should be. I do not know such cruel people, that everyone had to die."

Moscow to allow OSCE leader visit

Western and Islamic leaders have repeatedly charged that Chechen civilians have been targeted by Russian attacks. More than 200,000 refugees have fled the fighting into nearby Russian republics.

Russian officials say the Chechen campaign is aimed at wiping out Islamic rebels blamed for a series of fatal apartment bombings in Russia and two invasions of the Russian republic of Dagestan, which borders Chechnya. Moscow lost control of Chechnya following a disastrous war from 1994 to '96.

After several weeks of delay, Russia also said it would allow the head of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to visit the North Caucasus on December 14 and 15.

Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said on TV Tsentr that the dates had been proposed for the current OSCE head, Norwegian Foreign Minister Knut Vollebaek, to visit the North Caucasus.

Vollebaek said the aim of the visit was to assess the political and human rights situation under a 1995 OSCE mandate.

Correspondent Matthew Chance, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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