Russian troops have seized control of a third of Chechnya, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said yesterday, confirming federal forces had battled their way to the strategic Terek River after days of fierce fighting.
As government troops tightened a pincer movement around the breakaway republic, Putin announced that "Russian forces have reached the Terek River," the strategic river which separates the northern third of Chechnya.
Speaking to reporters before a meeting of Russia's powerful Security Council, Putin vowed to forge ahead with Moscow's plans to carve out a security zone to isolate the rebel Chechen republic.
"The creation of a security zone [in Chechnya] is far from being complete. Our final goal is to destroy the terrorists and their bases on Chechen territory," he added.
Federal troops moved into Chechnya from the neighboring republic of Ingushetia, moving into the Goragorsky region some 40km west of Grozny.
To the east, Russian troops clashed with Chechen guerrillas around the northeastern villages of Kargalinskaya, Dubovskaya and Borozdinovskaya, while further south the towns of Vedeno and Nozhai-Yurt were hit by mortars and Grad multiple rocket fire.
The only reverse to cloud the horizon was the loss of two fighter-bombers, shot down by Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, air force chiefs said.
In total, government troops had seized control of 30 Chechen villages since the ground phase of the security operation began Friday, said Putin, with the loss of just four servicemen.
However, a local Chechen official said Grozny's forces had recaptured four villages overnight, killing 40 Russian troops.
Taus Bagurayev, prefect for the Naurskaya region in northwest Chechnya, told AFP that Chechen troops had recaptured four Che-chen villages from Russian forces, with the bodies of more than 40 federal troops found on the battlefield.
Chechen fighters won control of the Alpatovo, Rubezhnoye, Ishterskaya and Chernokozovo villages, situated on the north bank of the Terek River, he said.
The deaths take to about 140 the number of Russian troops killed since the start of the ground offensive, according to Chechen officials, who admit to only minimal losses themselves.
Chechen officials Monday told AFP that Russian forces had battled to within 20km of the outskirts of Grozny, the closest Russian forces have been to Grozny since the disastrous 1994-96 war which left Grozny with de facto independence.
The Chechen crisis has sparked a refugee exodus to Ingushetia, as tens of thousands of civilians fled the fighting and Russian air raids on suspected guerrilla bases.
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