RUSSIA: CHECHNYA: FIGHTING AROUND GROZNY

(19 Dec 1994) Russian/Nat

Russian warplanes are reported to have set a gas refinery ablaze Monday during a bombing raid on the outskirts of the Chechen capital Grozny.
Firemen at the scene fifteen miles northwest of the city say they saw corpses on the road next to charred cars.
In the past twenty four hours Russian warplanes have made several attempts to bomb Grozny's television transmitter and the Presidential Palace.

Bomb craters around Grozny's television tower provide the evidence of Moscow's attempts to stop TV transmissions from the Chechen capital.
The City's Presidential Palace has also been targeted, though that hasn't stopped its Muslim defenders from gathering around it today.
This young fighter is just seventeen, there prepared to fight the Russians.
In Grozny food supplies are dwindling, while the bread queues get longer.

SOUNDBITE:

We don't have anything. And this weather for December is terribly cold. And you can see how we don't have much. Just look at us.
SUPER CAPTION: Grozny resident



With such hardships, some civilians are fleeing Grozny.
At the border on the roads between Chechnya and Dagestan, Russian Interior Ministry troops have set up roadblocks.
Busloads of refugees are searched for weapons before being allowed through.
The soldiers massing on the border are in good spirits according to their commanders, but they don't expect to have to march on Grozny.

SOUNDBITE:

The soldiers understand why they are here. And despite the bitter cold and the dirt, they are enthusiastic.
SUPER CAPTION: Lieutenant General Alexander Zonov, Russian Army



SOUNDBITE:

We will not be going into Grozny, there are already plenty of Russian troops there.
SUPER CAPTION: Lieutenant General Lev Malyishev, Russian Army



In Dagestan, those refugees who do get through the border find themselves suffering in bitterly cold conditions.
Most women and children are being accommodated in peoples homes. For them there is only fear and uncertainty for the future.

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