February 2, 2000
Web posted at: 5:17 a.m. EST (1017 GMT)

GROZNY, Russia (CNN) -- Russian artillery pounded Chechnya's capital Grozny on Wednesday despite a reported withdrawal of most Chechen troops from the city after heavy losses, including the deaths of two key Chechen leaders.

Russian troops in Grozny backed up reports of a pullout with stories of weakening resistance, but they continued to move cautiously about the city as the federal army's guns laid down a continuous, heavy bombardment that left Grozny's ruins shrouded in smoke.

Snipers still took shots at Russian troops on the city's front lines, but they reported seeing only bands of two or three rebel soldiers at a time.

Movladi Udugov, a spokesman for Chechnya's government, announced the withdrawal of the rebel forces from Grozny on Tuesday. He said it was carried out in "orderly fashion" after holding off the Russian federal army for more than five weeks.

Russian defense officials treated the announcement cautiously and said several hundred rebels remained in the city.

The Chechen decision to fall back toward Chechnya's southern mountains came after a large band of rebel troops found themselves caught in a minefield on Monday. The exploding mines and a Russian artillery bombardment that followed left scores killed and wounded, witnesses said.

Among the dead were Aslanbek Ismailov, the chief of Grozny's defenses; another rebel leader, Khunkar-Pasha Israpilov; and Grozny Mayor Lecha Dudayev. In addition, Chechen guerrilla leader Shamil Basayev -- a hero of the 1994-96 war that resulted in Chechnya's quasi-independent status -- lost a leg when a mine exploded under his vehicle, rebel reports said.

Basayev was taken from the scene, and his whereabouts were unknown early Wednesday. Several dozen of the Chechen wounded made it out of the city to the village Alkhan-Kala, where residents said many lay in the snow around the village's small clinic.

"Wounded fighters lie almost in piles inside the hospital," said Baiant Munayeva, who helped care for the injured. "We had to put dozens more on the snow outside."

Despite the withdrawal, Russian forces said the fighting was continuing and they had not taken control of the city. Television pictures from the Chechen capital showed continued shooting, and government spokesmen said "serious battles" were continuing.

But the television network NTV reported sharply reduced Chechen resistance, and said Russian troops were advancing nearly unopposed late Tuesday. Troops have raised Russian flags around the city, including in the capital's Minutka Square -- the site of a humiliating Russian defeat five years ago -- but they stopped short of declaring victory.

The rebels are expected to regroup in the mountains south of Grozny and counterattack, much as they did in the previous war. Russia's ITAR-Tass news agency said federal troops clashed with rebels Tuesday in the Argun and Vedeno gorges, which lead through the mountains.

Moscow sent troops into Chechnya in September after an invasion by Chechen-based Islamic militants into the neighboring Russian republic of Dagestan. Russian authorities also blame the Chechens for a series of deadly apartment bombings in Moscow and other cities.

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