Seven Russian troops were killed and 25 wounded today when gunmen attacked their military column in Chechnya.
That's according to the Interfax news agency which quoted a police source and a source in the Russian military as saying the column was near the village of Avtury, southeast of regional capital Grozny when the attack occurred.
Russian losses in Chechnya are far lighter than at the height of the separatist warfare from 1994 to 1996 and after 2000, but rebel attacks are frequent and several police and soldiers die every week.
In recent years the separatist war in Chechnya has evolved into a general Islamist uprising linked to other regions along Russia's mountainous southern border.
Web site voinenet.ru, which monitors media reports of deaths in fighting in the North Caucasus, said at least 21 people died, and 23 were injured in the week up to June 28.