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Russian military claims it has regained momentum in Chechnya
January 12, 2000
Web posted at: 6:54 p.m. EST (2354 GMT)
In this story: Rebels offer fierce resistance Bomb building site reportedly located RELATED STORIES, SITES 
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SHALI, Russia (CNN) -- Russia on Wednesday asserted it was back in control of towns where Chechen rebels launched surprise attacks over the weekend and said Russian soldiers had pushed farther into the mountains, closing in on key rebel bases.
Russia also said its forces blocked an attempt by rebels to break out of Grozny, the Chechen capital, which has been shelled for weeks. Helicopter gunships attacked rebel positions in Grozny on Wednesday.
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U.S. State Department spokesman James Rubin said on Wednesday it was impossible for the Russians to melt away resistance in Chechnya by continued use of force against the rebels.
"We believe that the Russians are in a cul de sac," Rubin said. "They cannot, by their current strategy, come to the end of the road because there is no end to this kind of fighting." Rubin repeated the U.S. call for a cease-fire in Chechnya.
Chechen leader Aslan Maskhadov said it was not too late to open peace talks. But Russian Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev said there would be no let-up.
Russia claims to regain control in 3 towns
After facing little resistance in its months-long drive to take control of Chechnya, Russia was forced on the defensive in recent days by strong rebel counterattacks. Rebels launched weekend attacks on Gudermes, Shali and Argun, which Russia claimed to have taken in December.
Russia claimed to regain control of all three on Wednesday and Nikolai Koshman, the Kremlin's emissary for Chechnya, visited Shali on Wednesday to tell residents that water and heat soon would be restored.
The military said Russian paratroopers now are controlling a mountain road leading to the rebel-held village of Sharoi and that they had captured the strategic heights nearby, cutting off a supply route for the rebels.
Russia also sent reinforcements to troops surrounding Vedeno, a large town deep in the mountains, and warplanes bombed rebel bases in the Vedeno area and the Argun Gorge northwest of Sharoi, the news agency ITAR-Tass reported.
The steep mountains of southern Chechnya shelter the rebels from Russian attacks. The fighters mount quick assaults, then disappear into the foggy gorges. Rebels also have put up fierce resistance as Russian patrols try to take Grozny neighborhood-by-neighborhood.
The ITAR-Tass news agency said Russian forces repelled about 30 rebels who tried to break out of Grozny overnight, killing nine of them. The report said that up to 70 rebels were killed throughout Chechnya, and 10 rebel bases destroyed over the past 24 hours, while three Russian soldiers were wounded in the fighting.
The Interfax news agency said that 15 Russian servicemen were killed and 38 wounded in Chechnya on Tuesday.
Russia is launching tougher measures to root out rebels from areas it controls, including checking all males between 10 and 60 for rebel ties and imposing a curfew. Rubin said the U.S. State Department is trying to clarify those reports with Russian authorities.
"We do believe that it is essential that Russia respect the fundamental human rights of civilians in and around Chechnya," he said.
Bomb building site reportedly located
The secretary of Russia's Security Council, Sergei Ivanov, told reporters that Russian soldiers had discovered tons of explosives in the Chechen town of Urus-Martan that were similar to those used in apartment blasts in Russia last autumn that killed some 300 people.
Ivanov said that the explosives also resembled the chemical compound used in car bombings that killed 13 people and injured more than 100 in Uzbekistan in February.
Ivanov also claimed that militants had executed 700 civilians for refusing to cooperate with them and had killed about 300 people who were being held for ransom. The claims could not be independently confirmed.
Russia sent ground troops into Chechnya in late September after weeks of airstrikes. The offensive was launched to wipe out Islamic rebels who twice invaded the neighboring republic of Dagestan last summer and who are blamed for the apartment bombings. The rebels deny responsibility for the apartment blasts.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
RELATED STORIES:
Russian military admits losses, says it has retaken key towns
January 10, 2000
Moscow may re-examine Chechnya strategy during pause
January 9, 2000
Russia scales back attacks in Chechen capital
January 7, 2000
Chechen president calls for cease-fire with Russians
January 5, 2000
Russians drop Grozny predictions as Chechens hold out
January 4, 2000
Putin visits troops in Chechnya
January 1, 2000
Putin, Russia's acting president, flies to Chechnya
December 31, 1999
RELATED SITES:
Chechen Republic Online
Russian Government Internet Network
ITAR-Tass Home Page
Interfax News Agency
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