Russia withdrawing some troops in Chechnya, commander says

Nando ^ | 6.2.02 | YURI BAGROV, Associated Press

[swarthyguy]

VLADIKAVKAZ, Russia (July 1, 2002 11:33 p.m. EDT) - Russia's military is shrinking its 80,000-strong force in breakaway Chechnya to a tighter, long-term force, in a withdrawal that may wrap up by the end of the year, the commander of troops in the area said Monday.

Col. Gen. Vladimir Moltenskoi repeated Russian claims that the fighters under rebel Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov are no longer able to mount serious resistance to Russian forces, despite continued rebel raids that killed five servicemen and injured nine in the latest daily Russian casualty count.

Maskhadov "has no more resources to organize resistance against the federal troops because in the spring, the rebels suffered major losses that they are not able to make up for," Moltenskoi said, according to the Interfax news agency.

Such boasts are commonly made by Russian officials and are difficult to confirm, given Moscow's strong control over information in the southern province.

Moltenskoi was quoted as saying the current overall Russian force in Chechnya was about 80,000 servicemen from the Defense Ministry, Interior Ministry and other agencies. The Defense Ministry force is being reduced to 22,000 troops, including a 14,000-strong permanent division and military commandant's offices, he said.

"The scheduled and step-by-step withdrawal is in progress and may be completed by the end of this year," he said, according to Interfax.

Russian forces continue to suffer casualties in daily small-scale attacks. Five soldiers were killed and nine injured over a 24-hour period in Chechnya, an official in the Kremlin-backed local administration said Monday on condition of anonymity.

Russian outposts were attacked 11 times. An armored personnel carrier was also blown up in the capital, Grozny, killing two and wounding one.

More than 100 people were detained during "mopping-up" operations, where soldiers close off populated areas to weed out suspected rebels. The searches have been stained by consistent reports by human rights groups of abuses and disappearances.

Search operations were being held in the suburbs of Grozny, as well as the Shali, Urus-Martan and Gudermes districts, the official said.

In a sign of the low morale among troops in Chechnya, a Russian serviceman was detained Sunday in Chernorechye after fleeing his unit and trying to sell his rifle for money to get home.

[swarthyguy]

A victory against the jihadis. A couple of dead Saudi jihadis were sent back to the kingdom a couple of months ago.

[Libertarianize the GOP]

.

[Libertarianize the GOP]

So have the Russians won in Chechnya?

If you consider simply declaring victory and going home to be a win then yes.

[swarthyguy]

Depends what the meaning of victory is. They've killed a couple of senior jihadi leaders and aren't giving ground.
That's good enough for now in the waronjihad.

[Andy from Beaverton]

They can't quit now when they are so close. Finish them off!

[Destro]

The Russians are home. You don't need that many troops to hold off hit and run fighters. Tanks are useless in this phase of the war. At least the Russkies ain't bombing wedding parties (not that there is anything wrong with that).

[Voronin]

Neither Basayev nor Khattab were under the control of Maskhadov, much like Hasim Thaci and Agim Ceku are neither under the control of President Rugova. If they are indeed dead, a deal with Moscow is far more likely (along the lines of the May(?) '93 Tartarstan deal). This depends also on whether Maskhadov is strong enough to dismantle Basayev's and Khattab's Saudi backed and funded network, or whether he can use such a promise as negtoiating leverage with Moscow. After all, Moscow does seriously want the jihadists out of the south. Watch this space.

VRN