Grozny `bloodbath' warning as Russia shells insurgents

The president of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Mr Knut Vollebaek, yesterday warned of a potential bloodbath in Grozny as Russian forces continued their attacks against Chechen insurgents.

The city, and particularly the scene of the reported loss of more than 100 Russian soldiers at Minutka Square, was repeatedly bombed on Thursday according to reports from Grozny but most of the daylight attacks yesterday consisted of artillery fire.

Russian troops attacked Chechens in the foothills of the southern highlands yesterday and the Prime Minister, Mr Vladimir Putin, claimed the capture of a supply route from Georgia into Chechnya would severely hamper the rebels and could be a turning point in the war.

The Defence Minister, Mr Igor Sergeyev, and deputy chief of staff, Col-Gen Valery Manilov, have reiterated that Grozny would not be stormed.

The commander of forces on the ground, Gen Vladimir Shabanov, said Russian forces had captured strategic heights south of Grozny and hoped the town would be taken "before the new year".

Ms Maria Eismont, a Russian citizen who works for the Reuters news agency and is one of the few journalists in the Chechen capital, reported that a high proportion of the remaining civilians in the city are elderly or poor ethnic Russians living in cramped conditions in basements. They ventured out during lulls in the bombing to get food.

She wrote that an important food supply was the city's pigeon population and she saw one pigeon being shared by nine people.

Mr Vollebaek's warning of a bloodbath at a meeting of the G-8 foreign ministers in Berlin is not likely to make much difference to Russia's attitude. Sources in Moscow are expecting a softening in attitude after tomorrow's general election in Russia.

Human Rights Watch has claimed that Russian officials at the Chechen border are forcing refugees to return to Chechnya by cutting their food rations. Thousands of people from Sernovodsk, Assinovskaya and Achkoi Martan in Russian-controlled northern Chechnya were told to return home and removed from ration lists, the organisation said.

Russia officials said Human Rights Watch's claim of summary executions by Russian soldiers this month in Alkhan Yurt was "a slander on the army".

The Russian military policy in and around Grozny appears to be to harry the Chechen forces to test their strength and wear them out. In intense nightly firefights, the Russians are hoping to force Chechens to run out of ammunition.

The Russian armoured group defeated on Wednesday is believed to have strayed too far into Chechen-held territory.

Russian military sources claim to have cut off all arms supplies to the Chechens in the city. But rebels in central and southern parts of the city are said to be very well equipped and on high ground dominating the surrounding areas.

Russian sources said the Arab guerrilla leader known as Khattab commands about 5,000 insurgents in Grozny.

As a large proportion of the estimated 30,000 civilians in Grozny are ethnic Russians, any major assault could damage the presidential hopes of politicians backing the military campaign. Mr Yeltsin is due to leave the Kremlin after elections in June.