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Situation in Chechnya Under Control, Says Russian General
The situation in Chechnya is under Moscow's control and Russian troops are successfully discharging their duties to clear rebels in the breakaway republic, a high-ranking Russian military officer said late Friday.
"The situation in Chechnya is overall controllable, despite the fact that the rebels are making fragmentary and insignificant assaults on federal units every day," Chief of the Russian General Staff General Anatoly Kvashnin told journalists here.
Some Chechen bandit leaders, including notorious Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev and Movladi Udugov, have managed to flee the battered republic, while the top warlords Khattab and Shamil Basayev are still in Chechnya, he said.
Kvashnin could not say how many foreign mercenaries are fighting against the Russian federal forces in Chechnya, because "some come while others go."
However, the situation in Chechnya is more manageable and the Russian units are succeeding in carrying out their tasks, the general said.
Meanwhile, the federal government is pursuing active talks with various groups in Chechnya, he said.
"We hold talks with those who think clearly and understand that there can be no return to the past, in particular to the situation in 1996 " when Russian troops were pulled out of Chechnya. "We'll negotiate with anyone who wants to return to a peaceful life, provided there is no blood on his hands," Kvashnin stated.
Although there were losses among the federal troops, Russian law enforcement structures are actively fighting the separatists and have effectively curbed rebel counterattacks, he emphasized.
Thursday, Russian Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev told Russian news agencies that his troops plan to wipe out rebel forces in the separatist region during the coming winter months.
"During winter we have to completely fulfill this task and get the Interior Ministry to deal with the issue of restoring constitutional order in the republic," Interfax quoted Sergeyev as saying.
More than a year after moving into Chechnya to re-establish its rule, Moscow has ensured shaky control over the territory, with rebel groups still operating in the southern mountains and thousands of refugees still in exile in neighboring regions.
Some 2,600 Russian servicemen have died since last year's escalation of fighting in the North Caucasus region. Soldiers and policemen are still being killed or wounded every week in lightning raids or bomb attacks by rebels, who often use the mountainous terrain to their advantage.
However, Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed earlier this week to crush Chechnya's rebels in order to prevent the region from becoming a hotbed for terrorist attacks.
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