Russia turned up the heat on Chechnya yesterday, battering the rebel province with an unrelenting 24-hour bombing blitz and pushing troops toward the capital amid terrified villagers.
Russian planes flew a punishing 180 sorties over Chechnya between Friday and yesterday – the most intense attack since the campaign to crush an Islamic uprising began seven weeks ago.
Leaders launched the devastating attack despite Western criticism that the blanket bombing is killing innocent civilians.
French President Jacques Chirac called Russia’s Chechen campaign “a tragic mistake.”
Russia claims it is aiming only at guerrilla targets.
“Russia is prepared for a political settlement to the Chechen problem, but not with those who have posed [for pictures] over the corpses of our citizens,” Prime Minister Vladimir Putin told U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
The night sky in the heavily populated valley south of the capital Grozny lit up with rockets and shells Friday night as panicked, weeping villagers gathered in cellars.
Federal troops yesterday seized a key crossroads on the main highway to the west of Grozny – while bombs smashed through already devastated villages.