Russia hammers Grozny, Chechen mountain gorges
REUTERS

Moscow, January 23: Russia hammered Chechen rebel positions in mountain gorges and in the shattered capital Grozny on Sunday, making little headway in a gruelling week-long drive to storm the city.

Despite severe winter weather, Russian warplanes and helicopters flew more than 100 sorties over Chechen targets, Interfax reported from Russian headquarters in Mozdok, outside Chechnya.

It quoted military status reports as saying heavy fighting was under way in the city. Russian troops had taken complete control of a bridge over the sunzha river which bisects the city, but were still fighting for the central Minutka Square.

The reports were a sign of the grindingly slow progress troops have made since beginning an all-out onslaught on Grozny a week ago. Russians have reported several times that they held Minutka and the bridge.

On Saturday pro-Russian chechen militiamen raised a Russian flag over Grozny's residential district number six, one of several neighbourhoods of high-rise apartment blocks on thecity's edges. But the centre still remains in Chechen hands.

The pro-Russian militia's leader, Bislan Gantemirov, said territory in the city often changes hands several times a day. The other main focus of fighting is in the mountains in the south, part of the caucasus, Europe's highest range. On Saturday, Russians hoisted their flag over Vedeno, the largest village in the mountains, which marines in white snowsuits captured after crossing high-altitude passes from neighbouring Dagestan province to the east. Itar-tass said Russian forces were conducting passport checks in the village.

Copyright © 2000 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.