Kazantsev tells Russian TV the Chechen president has been wounded

January 22, 2000
Web posted at: 6:52 p.m. EST (2352 GMT)

In this story: Constant shelling in Grozny Green uniforms in the snow Downed plane, missing general Civilians hiding, freezing in basements War condemned by West RELATED STORIES, SITES

From staff and wire reports

GROZNY, Russia -- A Russian commander said on Saturday that Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov had been wounded in fighting in the southern mountains, but there was no way to independently verify the claim.

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The battle for Chechnya

Commander Viktor Kazantsev told Russia's NTW television that Maskhadov had been wounded in Argun Gorge. There was no immediate response from the Chechen command.

Meanwhile, Russian television showed the Russian flag flying Saturday over a district in the shattered Chechen capital of Grozny.

Pro-Moscow Chechen militiamen were seen firing rifles in the air beneath the Russian tricolor on the rooftop of a crumbling nine-story apartment block in Grozny's residential District No. 6. Federal troops now claim to hold one-third of Grozny where fierce street combat continues.

The Russian military says it's seized one-third of Grozny

The Russian flag also was hoisted over the town of Vedeno, a stronghold of the Chechen rebels in the breakaway republic's southern mountains, the ITAR-Tass news agency quoted the Defense Ministry as saying.

"Vedeno is fully under the control of Russian federal forces," a Defense Ministry spokesman said, adding that the flag flew from an administrative building.

The Russians had controlled the heights around Vedeno for some time, but had moved cautiously into the town, the home of Chechen leader Shamil Basayev. The Russians easily took Chechnya's northern lowlands in their four-month assault on Chechen rebels. The most intense fighting has been in Grozny and the south, where rebels hold out in the mountains.

In Moscow, Russia's acting president replaced a top commander overseeing the offensive in Chechnya, and the Russian military said a general who disappeared last week was believed dead.

Constant shelling in Grozny

The Associated Press reports that Russian aircraft and artillery unleashed some of their most intense strikes yet on Grozny on Saturday, with four continuously airborne combat helicopters shelling repeatedly. The raids were concentrated on eastern Grozny and rattled the ground in nearby Novaya Sunzha, just east of the capital.

Russian forces say they have retaken control of the bridge over the Sunzha River in Grozny, a move that should give them a tactical advantage in the street fighting.

There were conflicting reports about which side controls Minutka Square, another important and embattled piece of Grozny. Reuters reported that Russian forces said they control the square; The Associated Press reported the square remains in rebel hands.

Russian military sources told ITAR-Tass that rebel resistance grows stronger as they get closer to the city center and that they now are gaining just a few hundred meters (yards) of territory a day.

Rebel spokesman Movladi Udugov told Reuters that Russian forces were attacking Grozny from all directions but that rebels are beating them back.

Earlier reports said rebel snipers in Grozny were firing from fortified multi-story buildings, pinning down Russian troops on the streets below. Bands of rebels also were reported to be crawling through sewer pipes to surprise Russian ground troops.

Green uniforms in the snow

Some Russian soldiers say their green uniforms make them targets in the white snow

Heavy snow fell Friday night in Grozny and Russian soldiers complained that makes their green combat fatigues an easy target for snipers.

Sgt. Yuri Mankhov said white camouflage uniforms have been issued to security guards for Russian officials, but not to the rank-and-file soldiers. "They will come (into the field) for half an hour and rush away heroes, and we are like animated targets in a shooting gallery."

Downed plane, missing general

Udugov said on Saturday that the rebels had shot down a Russian warplane over Grozny using a shoulder-held Stinger missile. The Russian Defense Ministry denied the claim.

Kazantsev said that Gen. Mikhail Malofeyev, who disappeared Tuesday, was believed dead after being shot by rebels. A search for the body was under way. The Chechens earlier had claimed to be holding the general and questioning him.

In Moscow, Col. Gen. Vyacheslav Tikhomirov was named to head Russia's 250,000 Interior Ministry troops in place of Col. Gen. Vyacheslav Ovchinnikov. No reason for the reshuffle was given. Earlier this month, the Russian government replaced the two top combat generals in Chechnya.

The Russian military claimed Saturday to have killed more than 500 militants over the past 24 hours in Grozny and in fighting in the south, Interfax said. ITAR-Tass reported that the military said just five Russian servicemen were killed over the past two days.

The rebel losses were higher than the Russians usually report, but cannot be confirmed. Many soldiers and observers say the Russian military and the Chechens are overplaying enemy losses and underreporting their own.

Civilians hiding, freezing in basements

Chechnya's health minister says at least 37 civilians trapped in damp, unheated basements have died of hypothermia in the past two days, most of them children and old people, according to ITAR-Tass.

Grozny, once home to more than 400,000 people, now has only a few thousand residents. Estimates vary, but it's believed that anywhere from 8,000 to 40,000 civilians remain in the bombed-out, shattered city. Most are thought to be too old, sick or scared to leave.

The city's maze-like streets and Soviet-era nuclear bunkers make it a haven for an estimated 2,000 guerrillas hiding there.

The Russian military reports that several hundred of the rebels tried to escape Saturday through the besieged Argun Gorge. The Russians say they beat back the rebels and that the rebels suffered heavy losses in the escape attempt.

War condemned by West

Russian troops entered Chechnya in September after Chechen- based militants launched raids into the neighboring Russian region of Dagestan. The rebels were also blamed for apartment bombings that killed about 300 people in Russia in September; rebels deny responsibility for the bombings.

The war has made Russian Acting President Vladimir Putin, who took office when Boris Yeltsin resigned on New Year's Eve, the front-runner in the upcoming presidential election on March 26.

But the war is opposed by many other countries. Italian Foreign Minister Lamberto Dini and German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer both repeated the West's opposition to the war during visits to Moscow this week.

European Union foreign ministers are due to discuss Chechnya on Monday, but EU diplomats say economic sanctions will not be discussed. Chechnya did not come up at a meeting of the Group of Seven industrialized nations in Tokyo, which was attended by Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov on Saturday.

Correspondent Steve Harrigan, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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