GROZNY -- Russian troops advanced still closer to the besieged Chechen capital of Grozny on Wednesday, seizing a crucial military airfield on the city outskirts, while planes carried out fresh air raids on and around the city with one bomb destroying an orphanage.
The resumption of the bombing of Grozny after a two-day lull appeared to be in direct contradiction to a pledge by President Boris Yeltsin. In an address to the nation Tuesday he pledged to stop the bombing of the Chechen capital to protect the lives of the civilian population.
Russian jets bombed Argun, 15 kilometers east of Grozny, while fierce battles erupted around the city for control of a major road leading out of the capital to the east. "The Russian Army is trying to storm the Chechen capital today," said the head of Chechnya's information service, Movladi Udugov, according to Ekho Moskvy radio station.
"Today Russian armed forces ... are carrying out real actions to move towar the outskirts of Grozny," the Russian government's press service said, quoting reports from the Russian military headquarters in Mozdok just outside Chechnya.
"They are carrying out the task of closing and tightening the circle around the Chechen capital," it said. Russian officials previously said the armed forces would blockade the city from the north, east and west while leaving roads to the south open.
Government spokesman Valentin Sergeyev told Reuters: "This is not the storming of Grozny. It is an approach by Russian troops toward Grozny."
A local journalist said jets also bombed the outskirts of Grozny, although Russia denied carrying out air raids. He said Russian forces, sent to crush Chechnya's independence drive, pounded outlying parts of the city with artillery.
President Boris Yeltsin sent thousands of Russian troops to Chechnya Dec. 11 to force the mainly Moslem region in the North Caucasus to drop its 1991 independence declaration.
On Tuesday he made a hardline speech telling his armed forces to push ahead and finish the job.
Yeltsin says the first stage of the operation, in which Grozny was to be sealed off, is nearing completion but has not said whether that stage would involve storming the city.
On Wednesday, Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev backed Yeltsin's hard line on Chechnya, and said Moscow would use all force necessary to end the crisis. "But the government and president are keeping open the door to a political solution, to talks," Kozyrev said.
In Grozny, Russian planes flew repeatedly over the city and dropped bombs more than once. An orphanage, Children's Home No. 1, was hit in one attack but the children had already sought sanctuary in a cellar where they huddled in terror.
"Why are they bombing us?" asked Misha, a small boy. "We're terrified. They already blew up our school," he told Associated Press Television.
According to Itar-Tass, Chechen officials said that Urus-Martan, one of Checnnya's biggest towns and a haven for refugees, was also bombed, and reported casualties there.
According to Interfax, a military source in Mozdok said jets had bombed Chechen units in woods along roads and bridges, and that artillery and bomb strikes hit Argun and nearby Petropavlovskaya.
The Russian forces, thought to number up to about 15,000, have been trying to block the road from Chechnya to Argun, but the fighting there indicated they had failed to do so.
Dudayev's son was seriously injured in battle with Russian forces, the region's deputy foreign minister, Ruslan Chimayev, said Tuesday. He told Interfax that Avlur Dudayev, 23, was wounded in fighting outside Grozny on Monday, but gave no details of his condition. ()
A Message from The Moscow Times:
Dear readers,
We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."
These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.
We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.
Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.
By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.
Remind me later.