Word: chechen
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...Russian nuclear submarine Wednesday test-fired two ballistic missiles - the third Russian missile test in a month. "We can expect a lot of bluster from Yeltsin," says Meier. "And even a dramatic gesture wouldn?t be surprising." That could be sparked by the presence of representatives of the besieged Chechen government. Unconfirmed reports suggest the OSCE may have invited members of President Aslan Mashkadov's government to discuss the Chechnya crisis. "If that proves true, it would be a major slap in the face to Moscow," says Meier. And one that couldn't go unanswered: Yeltsin may want to wear...
...actually stiffen the resolve of the generals to fight on," says Meier. "The last thing they want is to be seen to be caving into the West." But some in the military hierarchy are also wary of being caught in the potential quagmire of a guerrilla war in a Chechen winter. If anything, though, that fear may propel them to accelerate the timetable of their Chechnya campaign. So the question may become not whether the Russians plan to capture Grozny, but whether they're prepared to pay the price for holding...
...hard to fight an enemy that doesn't fight back. If Russia moves to seize their capital, Grozny, Chechen fighters are likely to simply retreat into the hills rather than fight to the end. That pattern was established Friday, when Russian troops advanced into Chechnya's second city, Gudermes, only to find its Chechen defenders already gone. "Chechen sources say most of their fighters are retreating into the mountains and drawing Russia into the cities as winter sets in," says TIME Moscow correspondent Andrew Meier. "They see it as a trap, because winter will hamper the Russian attack helicopters...
...Chechnya is boosting new prime minister Vladimir Putin's domestic political standing, but foreign governments are less impressed. Russian forces Friday continued to pound Chechen villages -- for the benefit of a live TV audience for the first time in Russian history - and Western journalists reported that some 50 refugees had been killed in a Russian rocket attack on a convoy heading for the border. But U.N. moves to send a humanitarian team to assess the needs of refugees from the conflict, and President Clinton's exhortation to the two sides to "stop fighting and start talking," signaled that Moscow...
...second battle for Grozny has begun. Russian tanks and infantry fought their way into the suburbs of the Chechen capital Tuesday in the face of fierce resistance by its guerrilla defenders. In 1994, Russia suffered heavy casualties - and killed thousands of Chechens, both fighters and civilians - in a vain attempt to take control of the capital. The latest battle may be as grim. "Some Russian leaders seem to believe that anyone who hasn?t fled Chechnya by now is fair game," says TIME Moscow correspondent Andrew Meier. "A former prime minister said Sunday that eliminating bandits and terrorists in Chechnya...