RUSSIA: CHECHNYA: RUSSIAN TROOP MOVEMENTS

(12 Dec 1994) Russian/Nat

With Russian tanks and troops closing in on their capital, Chechen leaders began talks Monday with Moscow over who will control the breakaway republic.

Russian representatives met a Chechen delegation in Vladikavkaz, the capital of the neighbouring republic of North Ossetia.

But as the talks got under way, unconfirmed reports suggested Russian troops and Chechen forces clashed near Grozny.

An unspecified number of people were injured.

Chechen special forces continued to dig themselves in around the Chechen capital, Grozny.

Their tanks rolled through the streets and the fighters prepared their artillery units.

Their action followed the Russian invasion on Sunday.

Russian television reported that up to 40-thousand Russian paratroopers and infantry had moved into Chechnya.

They advanced from three sides on the capital Grozny, some 16-hundred kilometres south-east from Moscow.

The Russian forces are backed by jets and helicopters.

Two brief clashes were reported Sunday and local reports said as many as four people were killed and more than ten wounded.

In an attempt to end the crisis peacefully, Russian delegates are meeting Chechnya's Finance Minister in North Ossetia.

Their talks only started after a Chechen opposition group was excluded at the regional government's insistence.

On Sunday, President Yeltsin said the Russian military action was taken to protect Russian citizens in Chechnya from "armed extremism".

Chechnya, a mostly Muslim republic in the Caucasus Mountains of southern Russia, declared independence in 1991.

Moscow has refused to recognise the claim and has backed Chechen rebels opposed to President Dzhokhar Dudayev, a former Soviet air force general.

Despite the Russian advance on Grozny, one of Yeltsin's spokesmen said there would be no Russian assault on Grozny.

But latest reports from the breakaway republic suggest Russian troops and Chechen forces clashed outside Grozny.

A number of people were reportedly injured in the clash, near the settlements of Dolinsky and Pervomaisk.

As the peace talks continue in North Ossetia, Chechnya has been parading a number of Russian troops captured by the Chechen fighters.

It is thought Chechen forces hold 48 Russians that they took prisoner on Sunday.

Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives ​​
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/
You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/2aa87ab1bf40dc932ba6903889f7a8ec

Видео RUSSIA: CHECHNYA: RUSSIAN TROOP MOVEMENTS канала AP Archive