November 16, 1999
Web posted at: 10:41 a.m. EST (1541 GMT)

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GROZNY, Russia (CNN) -- Russian resolve to eradicate Chechnya's Islamic guerrilla movement will outlast the rebels, top Russian officials said as troops pushed to solidify gains made during a seven-week military offensive in the rebel republic.

VIDEO Chechnya has long seen conflicts and, as CNN's Steve Harrigan reports, Russia says it will have continuing problems (November 16) Windows Media 28K 80K Correspondent Matthew Chance looks at the damage being done to villages by the war in Chechnya (November 16) QuickTime Play Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K     MESSAGE BOARD Russia's future

Russian forces, who already control the northern third of Chechnya, inched south of the Chechen capital Grozny on Tuesday, bombing roads and mountain passes to cut off rebel retreat routes.

In the face of growing global criticism against the weeks-old campaign, Russian officials vowed once again that they would stay in Chechnya until their task was done, regardless of how long it took.

"A quick solution to the problem does not exist. Chechnya is forever," said the former secretary of Russia's advisory Security Council, Boris Berezovsky. "As long as Russia exists as a country, there will be problems in this region."

Berezovsky, who helped negotiate the end of Russia's 1995-1996 war with Chechnya and is now running for parliament as an independent candidate, offered up his own peace plan for the battle-damaged region: Chechnya should give up hope for an independent future and do what Russia says.

Russia effectively left Chechnya under the control of Islamic rebels after that war. From their Chechen bases, the rebels twice invaded the Russian republic of Dagestan this summer, and are blamed by Russian officials for a series of deadly bombings in Russian cities. Both the Chechens and the rebels deny responsibility for the bomb attacks.

Russia's Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov criticized Western leaders who condemned Russia's Caucasus actions, saying they should be supporting the offensive instead.

"The conveniently forgotten fact remains that the Russian leadership is fighting international terrorism in Chechnya," Ivanov said in London's Financial Times, "and all states have undertaken to support each other in eradicating this evil."

Ivanov took the offensive himself, questioning Westerners' goals in the crisis.

"Has the anti-Russian campaign over Chechnya been launched to force Russia out of the Caucasus, and then out of central Asia?" he asked.

From the Russian perspective, the Chechen rebels are terrorists and the Russian military push is a counter-terrorist operation designed to methodically crush the rebels.

"The troops have used and will be using the tactics of wearing down the rebels' resistance with artillery," said Maj. Gen. Vladimir Shamanov, who is leading Russian troops south of Grozny. "We are in no hurry."

But from the Chechen viewpoint, Russia's campaign is against the Chechens themselves. Four thousand civilians have died in the fighting, they say.

"They are not fighting terrorists, but women and children," said 26-year-old Liza Kulayeva in the village of Gekhi, 15 kilometers (10 miles) south of Grozny.

Such opinions are based on Russian tactics. Artillery attacks pound villages controlled by the guerrillas until the village elders negotiate with the Russians and "drive the rebels out of their villages themselves," said Shamanov.

In addition to civilian casualties, international concerns also focused on some 200,000 Chechens who have fled the region. Most have made their way to neighboring Ingushetia, an already impoverished Russian republic now staggering from the increased drain on its resources.

Ivanov challenged international complaints about refugee conditions outside Chechnya.

"I must emphasize there is no human catastrophe in Chechnya," he told the BBC. "This is not only the opinion of Russia, This is also the opinion of all the international organizations who have had the opportunity of really visiting the area and have become acquainted with the camps of the displaced people."

In Moscow, a deputy prime minister said that if Western countries really believed the refugees were suffering, they would be offering much more to aid them.

"The volume of aid is insignificant," said Valentina Matvienko, who oversees social issues. "It does not correspond with the notion of humanitarian catastrophe as (Western leaders) see it."

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

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