Russian federal forces continued their attacks on rebels in the breakaway republic of Chechnya on November 9 as Prime Minister Vladimir Putin defended the actions amid Western pressure to ease the military campaign.

Despite poor weather, federal airplanes flew some 20 sorties of bombing and reconnaissance missions Tuesday, the Interfax news agency reported, citing the Air Force Headquarters.

"Today, airstrikes are delivered to militant positions in southern districts and to bandits' facilities in Grozny outskirts," the Air force said.

Meanwhile, ground troops continued to expand the security zone and strengthen their position in Chechnya, the Defense Ministry said.

Russia launched the military campaign against rebels inside Chechnya in late September, following rebel incursions into neighboring Daghestan and a spate of apartment block explosions that killed more than 300 people in Moscow and two other Russian cities.

Federal authorities have accused Chechen warlords Shamil Basayev and Khattab, a Jordanian native known only by his last name, of masterminding the terrorist blasts.

In response to Western criticism of the military actions in Chechnya, Prime Minister Putin said the operations in the North Caucasus are commensurate with the threat Moscow faces.

"You realize the threat best when you face actual result," Putin said after a Tuesday meeting at the Interior Ministry with the families of police officers killed in the line of duty, Interfax reported.

The federal forces are not dealing with some scattered criminals in the North Caucasus, they are actually "dealing with well-organized gangs of international terrorists," Putin said.

He said that 1,500 civilians in large cities alone had fallen victim to the actions of Chechen terrorists.

The anti-terrorist operation in the North Caucasus "is the only possible way to destroy the terrorists at their bases," Putin said.

Most Russians support the current federal campaign in Chechnya, especially after the series of terrorist bombings.

Gennady Zyuganov, leader of the Russian Communist Party, urged the federal authorities to follow military leaders' advice on Chechnya. The Russian military are believed to be pursuing a tough line in order to shake off the shame caused by the defeat in the previous Chechen war in 1994-1996.

"Bandits and terrorists must be done away with or they will completely destroy the country," Zyuganov said, brushing away Western pressure as "interfering in Russia's internal affairs."

However, liberal Yabloko movement leader Grigory Yavlinsky on Tuesday urged the authorities to halt the the massive bombing of Chechnya, and put the large-scale ground operations there on hold while beginning talks with Aslan Maskhadov as the lawfully elected Chechen president, Interfax reported.

Yavlinsky said in a statement that the Russian armed forces in August-November fulfilled their tasks in the North Caucasus and for the first time in five years created compelling prerequisites for conducting a political process.

He said talks should be held on the following terms: the liberation of all hostages, an end to the kidnapping and slave trade, the handover of internationally sought terrorists to the Russian authorities for trial, and resolute steps toward the disarming of all non-governmental formations under arms.

If Maskhadov refuses to negotiate under these conditions, a 30-day grace period for refugees to leave Chechnya should be given, after which "the above-mentioned tasks will be carried out by the federal forces independently," Yavlinsky said.