On November 12, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov tri
There
is a large so-called "Mountain Group" still active in Chechnya, which
consists of the 45th Special Task Airborne Regiment and regiments of
the 106th Airborne Division (based in Tula) and the 77th Special Marine
brigade (based in Novorossiisk). This group fights against the most
capable of the Chechen Fighters squads, led by warlord Shamil Basaev,
located in the mountainous region of Vedeno.
The
commander of the Mountain Group, General Arkady Bakhin, told the
Defense Ministry newspaper Krasnaya zvezda earlier, that Chechen
Fighters in Vedeno have such heavy weapons as mortars and guided
anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles, and that there is no signs that
they will be destroyed soon. The "Vedeno Front" is a place where
serious skirmishes happen almost every day.
According to the state's RIA Novosti and the
The forests near Tse-Vedeno and Makheti villages were shelled as well on November 13. In the west of
As
for districts in the high mountains, they are under the full control of
the Chechens. In his recent interview with the Globe and Mail, Shamil
Basaev asserted that there were no occupiers in the 60-kilometer-long
Sharoi-Argun Gorge. There are frontier
guard units in Itum-Kale near the Georgian border, but they are unable
to act effectively against the Chechens. From time to time the Russian
command lands airborne troops in the area, but this has thus far only
resulted in heavy losses for the paratroopers.
The
Russian-Chechen Friendship Society reported on November 23 that about
21 Russian soldiers were killed and 22 wounded during a recent landing
assault near the
However,
the hostilities are not limited to the mountains: the Chechen Fighters
are very active in the valley as well. Krasnaya zvezda reported on
November 10 that during the first week of November, the Chechens were
very active in the Sunzha, Shali, Nadterechny, and Vedeno districts,
and
Nevertheless,
hostilities there are now no less intense than they are in Vedeno. This
month, Russian forces even used fighter-bombers to bomb the district.
The Russian-Chechen Friendship Society reported on November 23 that on
November 17-18, aircraft were used to bomb areas near the
The
Chechen Fighters tactics in the valley generally remain the same:
roadside bombs and shoot-and-run raids. For example, on November 7, an
armored personnel carrier and military truck belonging to Russian
forces were blown up by land mines at the entrance to
There
is some evidence that the Chechens have started to feel more and more
confident outside the mountains. According to Russian-Chechen
Friendship Society reports, some clashes in
On
November 21, two pro-Russian policemen were beaten and disarmed after
their car was stopped for inspection at a Chechen Fighters checkpoint
in
Sulim Yamadaev, who commands the collaborate military pro-Russian group "Vostok"
battalion of the GRU (Russian military intelligence), a unit composed
of Russian and Chechen collaborate servicemen, sharply criticized the
idea of withdrawing the 76th Division from the region. In an interview
with Moskovsky komsomolets published on November 29, Yamadaev said that
if the troops were withdrawn, the Chechen Fighters would seize back
power, repeating their offensive of August 1996.
As the gap between political declarations and the real situation in
The