A bomb in Chechyna today killed at least 17 pro-Moscow police two hours before Russian President Mr Vladimir Putin declared the war over.
The attacks brought the reported 24-hour death toll to 26, including two small children and a pregnant woman, in one of the bloodiest days of a conflict that has raged throughout Mr Putin's two years in office.
Mr Sultan Satuyev, first deputy head of pro-Moscow Chechen police, told NTV television that 16 elite officers had died in this morning's attack on a truck convoy, 200 metres from their headquarters in the regional capital Grozny.
Later reports said a 17th died in hospital and five others were wounded. Television showed black body bags lined up on the ground and wreckage of several trucks blown apart.
"It seems they [the rebels] want to intimidate us. . . . They will not succeed," he said. "These are not people but monsters," Mr Satuyev said.
Mr Putin devoted only a single minute to Chechnya in an hour-long annual State of the Nation address, declaring the military stage of the conflict over. Russia has made that claim repeatedly over the past two years despite losing thousands of troops in unabated violence.