Russia Admits to Major Setbacks in Chechnya

MOSCOW â€”  Rebels in the separatist republic of Chechnya struck back forcefully against Russian positions Sunday, conducting a series of raids against towns the Russian command had previously declared secure.

The raids--in which the rebels attacked the military command in two towns and a police checkpoint in a third--forced Russian officers for the first time to admit to major setbacks in their 3-month-old campaign to reclaim rebel territory.

Chechen Vice President Vakha Arsanov told Russia’s Interfax news agency that the rebels had retaken control of an entire string of towns in eastern Chechnya. He proclaimed the operations “the turning point in the second Chechen war.�

Both sides routinely exaggerate their gains, and that assessment appeared overstated. But the Russian military--which lost an earlier war against Chechen separatists in 1996--confirmed three major rebel attacks.

The most serious occurred about seven miles east of the capital, Grozny, in the town of Argun, where a group of about 300 fighters seized the railway station and the military commandant’s headquarters. Elite OMON police were defending the facilities, Interfax reported, and fighting continued into the night.

Meanwhile, another group of fighters, dressed as civilians, drove up to a police checkpoint outside the town of Shali, about 10 miles south of Argun, and opened fire. The ensuing battle lasted for several hours before the rebels were forced to flee, officials said. Two Russian soldiers were reported killed.

And a group of as many as 500 Chechen fighters attacked the military command outside Gudermes, Chechnya’s second-largest city, which the Russians have made a showcase for their efforts to bring the republic back into the Russian fold.

The battle outside Gudermes was reported to be raging in several locations. One was the village of Dzhalka, in which rebels had ambushed a water convoy; Russian troops sent in reinforcements and heavy fighting followed, Interfax said.

All three cities had previously been declared “liberated� by Russian forces--Gudermes on Nov. 10, Argun on Dec. 3 and Shali on Dec. 15. The raids are likely to be embarrassing for the Russian command because they took place far behind the current front lines in areas it had declared rebel-free and had turned over to civilian authorities.

Col. Valentin Astafyev, spokesman for the Russian command, struggled to put the best face on the attacks. For instance, he said Russian troops were being constrained from using full force against the rebels in Argun for fear of civilian casualties.

“The only thing that aggravates the situation is that the militants are using peaceful civilians as a shield,� Astafyev said in an interview broadcast on ORT television. “Therefore, in order to avoid unnecessary casualties among the town’s peaceful population, no decisive steps have been taken so far.�

In recent weeks, the Russians have encountered their first serious resistance from the rebels, who made only nominal efforts to fight back as Moscow’s forces advanced southward through Chechnya’s northern flatlands. But analysts warned that the Chechens would put up a fight in Grozny as well as in the southern mountains.

After weeks of brutal air and artillery attacks, Russian troops began an offensive against Grozny on Dec. 25. The Russians have repeatedly claimed to have seized various districts of the city, but local reports suggest that they have made only sporadic progress.

Russia called a pause in the Grozny offensive Friday, ostensibly to observe Orthodox Christmas and the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. But analysts have suggested that the military needed the break to reconsider its strategy and regroup its forces.

The bombing halt appeared to hold for a third day in central Grozny on Sunday, but heavy fighting raged elsewhere.

In recent days, the Russian military has concentrated its firepower--and its propaganda--on pushing toward the southern mountains, where rebels have their bases. The Russians have been besieging the town of Vedeno to the east and pushing through Dyuba-Yurt in the south--both towns at the entrance to major mountain passes.

On Sunday, despite reports of inclement weather, the military press center said Russian forces had conducted 80 bombing runs against targets in the mountains.

In footage from Dyuba-Yurt filmed earlier in the day, a local Russian commander, Lt. Col. Yuri Budanov, was jovial as he described how his troops trade artillery fire with the rebels in the hills.

“They trouble us from time to time. But we also wish them a merry Christmas--we keep them busy too,� he said in the footage broadcast on the NTV network. “We will send them a present now. Ready? At the previously planned target--Fire! Go! Merry Christmas!�

After the Russian defeat in 1996, Chechnya enjoyed de facto independence. But Russia went to war again in September after militants invaded the neighboring republic of Dagestan and officials blamed them for a series of apartment bombings in Moscow and elsewhere that killed 300 people.