RUSSIAN-SPONSORED GROUP SAID TO ATTACK RUSSIAN SOLDIERS.

According to the Russian command, members of the Grozny municipal police attacked a Russian guard post at an underpass on the road to Grozny airport with gunfire and grenades, wounding several Russian soldiers. The Russian command lodged an "official protest." (6)

The "Municipal police" force is the armed unit of Moscow-appointed Grozny mayor Beslan Gantemirov, who is disgruntled over Moscow’s negotiations with the Dudayev side. Russian officials suspect Gantemirov’s men of having provoked several recent violent incidents in order to disrupt those negotiations, possibly including the assassination attempts on presidential envoy Oleg Lobov (at the same underpass) and military commander, General Anatoly Romanov. The Russian side may be seeking an opportunity to discipline its protege.

Dudayev Supporters Rally in Grozny.