Word: chechenization
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...Wednesday, Dec. 14, Chechen president Jokhar Dudayev had broken off negotiations with a Russian team and summoned his people to "a war for life or death." But on Friday he proclaimed a cease-fire and announced that he would reopen talks. The stated positions of the two sides would seem to leave nothing to talk about. Dudayev was demanding that Russia immediately pull out its forces and recognize the full independence he had proclaimed for Chechnya three years ago, while Yeltsin insisted as a precondition for any withdrawal that the Chechens disarm and end their secession. The view in Moscow...
Though Russia sent in a heavy force on Dec. 11 to stop the rebellion, and the Chechens vowed to fight, both sides appeared to be drawing back from a blood-soaked showdown. As many as 40,000 Russian troops converged on the Chechen capital of Grozny but were holding off on a final assault. Yeltsin extended for 48 hours, until Saturday midnight, an ultimatum for Chechens to surrender their weapons. His first ultimatum was a flat failure; as it was about to expire Thursday, the Moscow news agency TASS reported that "not a single gun has been turned...
...forces could probably storm and occupy Grozny, a city of 400,000, within hours. But that would begin rather than end the war. Dudayev has called on his ! people to "strike and withdraw, strike and withdraw" until the invaders flee in "fear and terror." That was the strategy Chechen forebears followed in fighting czarist armies. They lost, but it took the Russians 47 years between 1817 and 1864 to subdue them...
...after Chechen forces virtually ran out of ammunition, Russian planes and artillery unleashed a bitter offensive on Grozny, the capital of the separatist republic. The offensive killed 24 civilians, including a American freelance photographer. Scenes of carnage dotted the city after the first daylight air raid in the civil war -- a sign that Russia is now pushing to end what has become a quagmire. But a speedy end to the fighting would come despite fierce Chechen resistance, overwhelming domestic opposition and turmoil in the Russian military command. Several Russian generals have disobeyed orders or sharply criticized Defense Minister Pavel Grachev...
Soldiers of the breakaway Caucasian republic of Chechnya refused to surrender despite running out of ammunition today, but the lapse in rebel shelling allowed Russian jets a free corridor to bomb the Chechen capital, Grozny. But, the Kremlin -- which faces mounting domestic opposition to the attacks -- today admitted that the fighting had gone on longer than Russian officials anticipated, although they attributed the delays to efforts to limit civilian casualties. (Several international military analysts said Russian troops' lack of battle-readiness was the real reason.) There was also no sign Russia was nearing its goal of encircling Grozny with troops...