Moscow - Russian soldiers have found the mutilated bodies of nine of their comrades, executed after being captured by Chechen rebels in an ambush a month earlier, the military said yesterday as it denied claims of fresh losses. The Russian television station RTR, citing military sources, said the men had been tortured: "Eight soldiers had their throats cut, one corpse had its limbs chopped off. Three soldiers had had their ears cut off and all the bodies had several knife wounds." The station showed no footage of the corpses.
The troops went missing after an ambush on March 29th. Rebel commanders threatened to execute the nine troops if Moscow did not exchange them for a Russian colonel accused of raping and murdering an 18-year-old Chechen woman. Moscow rejected the ultimatum.