Russia launched a second wave of house-to-house searches throughout Chechnya yesterday to prevent rebels thwarting a new offensive.
At the same time Moscow appeared to have eased a ban on Chechen male refugees crossing into Ingushetia, following criticism by the UN refugee agency and the President of Ingushetia.
In Moscow the Interior Ministry said 80 of its troops had died fighting in the breakaway region since January 1st. It dismissed a report by Interfax news agency that 33 troops had fallen on Wednesday and Thursday alone.
The border blockade had been imposed on males considered to be of fighting age after counterattacks by rebels.
"The border is clear, there are no restrictions," said Mr Shamil Mirzoyev, an Ingush policeman at the border not far from Nazran. "Boys and men aged 10 to 60 are also passing."
Several buses with men of fighting age were allowed through.
But an NTV television correspondent reported from the area that he understood Moscow had just raised the age limit to 15 from 10. President Ruslan Aushev of Ingushetia added to the confusion, telling Interfax news agency a total ban was still in force.
RIA news agency quoted the Russian Deputy Interior Minister, Mr Pyotr Latyshev, as saying his forces were engaged in "comprehensive and deep mopping-up operations", including house-tohouse sweeps.
RIA said hundreds of Chechens had been checked in searches across the separatist republic and dozens had been arrested, including six people identified as rebels because they had bullet wounds.
The Deputy Interior Ministry troops commander, Stanslav Kavun, said his forces had lost 168 men during the four-month conflict. The Defence Ministry has reported a death toll of 426 regular soldiers and officers between October 10th and January 5th.
The Defence Minister, Mr Igor Sergeyev, said Russia's campaign in Chechnya was still on track. "The rebel action has not altered our plans for the third stage of the anti-terrorist operation," he said.
Moscow plans to complete the campaign within two months, in time for an early presidential election on March 26th. A turn for the worse for Russia might lead to a fall in the popularity of Acting President Vladimir Putin.
NTV said Russian troops around the besieged Chechen capital, Grozny, and mountain hideouts in the south were regrouping for a fresh push to flush out the rebels from their remaining strongholds as police searched the lowlands.
Interfax news agency reported from Russia's main army base in Mozdok, just over the border from Chechnya, that artillery and warplanes had been pounding rebel positions but that fighting was limited to sporadic clashes.
RIA quoted the military as saying the rebels, who last week raided the town of Shali, southeast of Grozny, broke through Russian lines and returned to their mountain bases.
Interfax said troops had captured a strategic hill over the mountain village of Sharoi, allowing them to control routes used by the rebels to retreat into the mountains.
In Moscow, the Foreign Minister, Mr Igor Ivanov, criticised the United States for allowing a senior Chechen official to hold talks in the State Department.
"On numerous occasions we have stated that such actions suggest support for terrorists and separatists and not only in the Russian Federation," Mr Ivanov said.
In a separate development, Russia's radically reshaped national security document published yesterday makes it clear that Moscow has reduced the threshold for using nuclear weapons. To counter what it sees as a growing military threat it envisages the potential use of its vast nuclear arsenal "to repel armed aggression".
Mr Putin signed a decree on January 6th setting out Russia's views on its strategic interests and establishing priorities for protecting them. It says Moscow's main security task is to deter any attacks, nuclear or conventional, against Russia and its allies.
"The Russian Federation considers it possible to use military force to guarantee its national security according to the following principles: the use of all forces and equipment at its disposal, including nuclear weapons, if it has to repel armed aggression, if all other means of resolving the crisis have been exhausted or proved ineffective."
This contrasts with a previous document published in 1997 which said Russia reserved the right to use nuclear weapons only if its very existence was threatened. The other principle stated under the new concept was the use of force to quell internal unrest.