CHECHNYA: RUSSIANS ATTACK IN WEST, CHECHENS COUNTERATTACK IN GROZNY.

Publication: Monitor Volume: 2 Issue: 48

Russian airbombing and shelling of Sernovodsk and Bamut continued March 5 and 6, as did the information blackout around the operation. Ingush rescue teams briefly allowed by the Russian military in one section of Sernovodsk counted scores of corpses of civilians, according to Ingushetia’s vice president Boris Agapov. Thousands of Chechen civilians streamed into Ingushetia, adding to that small republic’s already heavy burden of caring for Chechens as well as for the Ingush refugees from North Ossetia. Russia’s prosecutor general Yuri Skuratov declared any negotiation with Djohar Dudaev or his representatives to be unlawful on the grounds that they were wanted by federal authorities on criminal charges. Reports of field commander Salman Raduyev’s death were alternatively confirmed and denied.

On March 6 before dawn, Chechen fighters entered Grozny from three directions, took over large parts of the capital, seized or set fire to barracks and buildings used by Russian and Chechen collaborationist authorities, and battled Russian troops into the night. Djohar Dudaev broke into Chechen TV programming with a speech announcing that he had ordered the counterattack in Grozny and urging the Chechen people to support the resistance. There was no word on the outcome of the battle in Grozny or about casualties as the fighting raged during the night. (1)

U.S. Says Human Rights Abuses Continue in Russia.