Russian forces storm rebel stronghold

Russian forces storm rebel stronghold
REUTERS

MOSCOW, DECEMBER 8: Russian troops in the breakaway republic of Chechnya on Wednesday began the storming of the Muslim rebel stronghold of Urus-Martan, Interfax news agency reported.

Federal forces entered Urus-Martan together with brigades of Chechen volunteers at 7 am Moscow time, the agency said. It added that General Vladimir Shamanov and Bislan Gantemirov, a pro-Moscow Chechen regarded by the Russians as a possible post-war leader of the rebellious province, were in charge of the Urus-Martan operation.

Urus-Martan is situated about 20 kilometres south of the Chechen capital Grozny, and is considered to be the gateway to the rebel-held southern parts of the republic. About 2,000 fighters were thought to be defending the town.

Russian forces to the north, meanwhile, tightened their ring around Grozny anticipating that rebels there were preparing to break out toward the southwest, according to officials at the federal forces headquarters in Mozdok, north Ossetia.

Up to 6,000 defenders werereportedly dug in around the city, which federal forces have said they will blast in massive air and artillery bombardments from Saturday onwards.

Russian commanders have dropped thousands of leaflets on Grozny warning that its remaining civilian population of about 40,000 people to leave the city by the end of the week or be annihilated as ``terrorists and bandits''. Rebels were also urged to lay down their weapons.

Meanwhile, Chechen rebel spokesman Movladi Udugov said separatist fighters battling Russian troops had withdrawn on Wednesday from Urus-Martan.

``Chechen forces pulled out of Urus-Martan early this morning in line with an order from the (rebel) military high command as part of the plan to regroup for further battle with the Russian aggressors,'' Udugov told Reuters by telephone.

Udugov said fighting had raged for the past three days between Russian troops and Chechen fighters in a western suburb of Grozny. He also said Russian planes had bombed a market in the village of ShaliTuesday evening, killing about 70 people. The reports could not be independently confirmed.

23 Chechen villages safe for refugees: Russia
MOSCOW: Russia's emergencies minister Sergei Shoigu on Wednesday named 23 Chechen villages, including some near the besieged regional capital Grozny, ready to accept refugees from rebel-controlled areas, Interfax news agency said.

Russia is trying to persuade some of the more than 200,000 refugees sheltering in the adjacent region of Ingushetia to return home. Russian troops now control most of central and north Chechnya. Among the settlements on Shoigu's list, three villages Tolstoi-Yurt, Vinogradnoye and Ken-Yurt and the town of Argun are very close to the front line around Grozny, which the Russians sealed off last week.

Shoigu told Interfax that local military authorities had approved the list of villages, where Russian troops could guarantee the safety of residents and refugees.