CHECHNYA: GROZNY: RUSSIAN PLANES BOMB SUPPLY ROUTE

(28 Nov 1999) Russian/Nat

Russian planes have bombed a main supply route to the Chechen capital Grozny, and Russian troops have moved to tighten their blockade of the city.

Russian warplanes and artillery have been relentlessly pounding the city for days.

Meanwhile Chechen fighters remain dug in around Grozny, waiting for the Russian forces to arrive.

These men say they are ready for the Russian soldiers who now almost completely surround the city of Grozny.

The Russians are only kilometres (miles) away.

It has been reported that Russian forces have taken over the hills overlooking the city from the north.

They can apparently see right down to the rebel positions around the city.

But despite the looming threat the Chechens seem relaxed and confident about facing the Russians, even though they have superior firepower and equipment.

SOUNDBITE: (Russian)
"We can't wait to see them (the Russian troops) here. I think none of them will walk out alive from this place. We will fight till the very end."
SUPER CAPTION: Musa, Chechen Rebel

SOUNDBITE: (Russian)
"They (the Russian soldiers) would be better off running from here. Otherwise they won't escape our wrath."
SUPER CAPTION: Umar, Chechen rebel

It may well be the Russian commanders do not have the stomach to send their troops up against the Chechen fighters in close combat.

The Russian military has repeatedly denied it plans to storm Grozny.

Instead it may well continue to rely heavily on air and artillery strikes, as it has since the start of its campaign, in August.

The generals have been trying to avoid the kind of ground and street battles that brought heavy losses to their forces during the last Chechen war.

Meanwhile the civilian population of Grozny continues to suffer.

UPSOUND of shell landing

The Russian military has conceded that hardly any residences remained intact in Grozny.

Even if buildings have not collapsed, their roofs have been torn off, and windows and doors shattered.

The family who once lived in this house are now sheltering in its basement.

They laugh at the Russian suggestion that civilians are not being targeted.

SOUNDBITE: (Russian)
"Everyday we hear - 'there will be no bombing, there will be no storming of Grozny' - In fact the airplanes are flying over the city every day and carrying out strikes at one place or another."
SUPER CAPTION: Fatima, Grozny resident

They say their cattle were killed in a recent strike.

SOUNDBITE: (Russian)
"Our cattle were killed by the strike - we didn't manage to salvage anything and now the bodies are being eaten by stray dogs. I don't know why Yeltsin is lying - he's the President, he shouldn't. Why Lukin (Russian Duma's Foreign Affairs committee chairman), Seleznyov (Russian Duma chairman), Putin (Russian prime minister) - why all of them are lying about the situation with civilians, with common folk who can't escape and who are being targeted. I don't know, perhaps there are some bandits over here - but not round here, I haven't ever seen them."
SUPER CAPTION: Fatima, Grozny resident

Russia launched air strikes on Chechnya in August with the stated aim of wiping out Islamic rebels who twice invaded the neighboring Russian republic of Dagestan this summer.

It has also blamed the rebels for apartment bombings that killed 300 people in several Russian cities.

The international community has been increasing pressure on Moscow to halt the offensive, focusing its complaints on widespread civilian casualties and on the plight of the more than 220 thousand refugees who have fled the fighting.

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