Word: putin
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...effort. "Now everyone's waiting for the video, because the Chechens usually record these things," says TIME Moscow correspondent Andrew Meier. "After Moscow's denials, a video showing the ambush did occur could prove embarrassing to Russia's generals." It would prove even more embarrassing to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who has built his political reputation almost exclusively on the Chechnya campaign. "The plan may have been for Putin to fly down and raise the Russian flag over Grozny on the eve of Sunday's parliamentary elections," says Meier. "But if reports of the ambush prove true, that could throw...
...tangible gains. That gives Russia an incentive to try and divide the Chechen resistance with concessions to the moderates, while seeking to isolate and neutralize hard-liners. With Russian parliamentary elections only five days away, success in Chechnya has fueled the unlikely rise of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to the pinnacle of political popularity. But he won't want this war dragging on into next summer, when he goes to the polls in the hope of succeeding President Yeltsin...
...makes more sense to simply lay siege to the city. But there may be a political rationale to pressing the offensive and destroying the Chechen capital." Indeed, if that can be achieved via air strikes and artillery - with minimal Russian casualties - it will form the centerpiece of Prime Minister Putin's campaign in parliamentary elections, which are less than two weeks away...
...President Clinton had hoped that a new face in the Kremlin might help quell the United States' disquiet over the Chechnyan situation, he was to be disappointed. The President met with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in Oslo on Tuesday, urging the former KGB colonel to go easy on the rebel republic - and was met with a resounding "nyet." Putin simply emphasized that Chechnya was an internal fight against terrorism, and shouldn't impinge on U.S.-Russian relations. Despite appearances, however, Putin, may not be the man in charge of the Chechnya campaign. "The generals have reemerged as a serious force...
...Despite Putin's tough talk, Oslo was not good for Moscow's new boy on the block. "In Russia he's perceived to have lost face because of Clinton's strong words on Chechnya," says Meier. "More important, Moscow was cut out of the all-important discussions in Oslo on the Middle East peace process. So while Chechnya has boosted his claims as a tough disciplinarian who can do the job at home, Russians are starting to doubt whether he can cut it as an international statesman." And that's a fact that hasn't escaped Boris Yeltsin, who returned...