Russia: Having Consolidated Gains, Russian Troops Push Toward Grozny Center

Grozny/Washington/Moscow, 30 December 1999 (RFE/RL) -- Russian federal troops are now reportedly only two kilometers from the center of Grozny and are pushing forward again. This follows a lull in combat when Russian troops on Grozny's outskirts re-enforced their forward positions. The Russian military command in Mozdok today said planes raided rebel positions in Grozny and in the southern mountains. Besides fighting in the Chechen capital, battles are reported near the villages of Vedeno, Khacharoi and Dyshno-Vedeno south of Grozny.
The White House expressed concern today that Russian forces are preparing to use more powerful weapons indiscriminately in the coming days to shorten the conflict in Chechnya.

In Warsaw, meanwhile, the Polish Senate passed a resolution calling on Russia to immediately stop the war in Chechnya.

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