Russia tries to restore civilian rule in Chechnya

March 1, 2000
Web posted at: 11:06 p.m. EST (0406 GMT)

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GROZNY, Russia (CNN) -- Russian leaders have yet to declare a final victory in their five-month war against Chechnya's separatist government, but they say they have begun trying to restore a civilian government to the province.

The Russian tricolor flies over buildings in towns across Chechnya, and apparently victorious federal troops march freely through the streets. Chechen leaders, who ruled an all-but-independent state after a 1994-1996 war that humiliated the Russian army, were unaccounted for Wednesday.

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The Battle for Chechnya

Russian officials are now trying to organize a government loyal to Moscow in the shattered territory.

"To restore civilian life, to restore systems of government -- this is the task," Kremlin spokesman Sergei Yastrzhembsky said. "But it is impossible to address these problems without the support of leaders on the ground, and already there are Chechen leaders who are working with us to bring about the political rebirth of Chechnya."

Russian commanders say 99 percent of Chechen territory is under their control. The massive bombardments that characterized the current Russian campaign have been scaled back, but fighting continues in the countryside. The town of Shatoi, the last rebel stronghold in the territory, surrendered Tuesday.

Russian troops are still hunting Chechen leaders, including the republic's president, Aslan Maskhadov, and guerrilla commander Shamil Basayev. Yastrzhembsky said Russian authorities have asked Interpol to look for nearly 100 rebel leaders. Maskhadov, who faces charges of leading an armed rebellion, will soon be added to the list, he said.

But fears of continued guerrilla fighting persist, as occurred in the last Chechen war, and the mistrust of Chechen civilians may mean Russia's battle is not over yet. Russian military analyst Pavel Felgenhauer said it may be too early to say the rebels are a spent force.

"They have a small core of fighters that hide in the woods and a bigger core of militiamen that join the fight when they hear the call," Felgenhauer said. "That means at any time, thousands of Chechen fighters can just sort of spring from the ground and attack Russian troops anywhere."

Gen. Vadim Timchenko, the deputy commander of Russia's forces in the North Caucasus, told reporters outside Grozny that about 800 Chechen troops remain holed up south of the capital.

"It (the region) has got caves and very rugged terrain there which makes it slow going to clean it out properly," he said.

Timchenko downplayed fears of a guerrilla war, saying ordinary Chechens support the Russian effort to retake their territory.

"In order to conduct a partisan war you need one condition: the support of the local population," he said. "Here, I won't say 100 percent, but more than half of the population supports the federal forces. This is decisive."

Correspondent Matthew Chance and Reuters contributed to this report.

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