Chechen Update (from the St Petersburg Press, Russia)
Robert Ireland
from: The Saint Petersburg Press (Russia)
Lebed, Under Criticism, Blocks Fighting
By Carlotta Gall
STAFF WRITER
GROZNY - National security chief Alexander Lebed made good on a promise to stop the
storming of the Chechen capital Thursday, forcing Russian troops to hold their attack
and signing a new cease-fire with the rebel leaders.
During a day of frantic talks in the war-torn region, Lebed told a press conference he
had canceled an ultimatum issued Monday under which Russian troops threatened to retake
the capital by storm starting Thursday morning.
"There will be no more ultimatums," Lebed said. "The delivering of the ultimatum was a
bad joke."
According to a report by Itar-Tass, Lebed also struck a cease-fire deal Thursday evening
with rebel chief of staff Aslan Maskhadov after eight hours of talks.
But while Lebed boasted about his achievements, President Boris Yeltsin, returning to
the Kremlin after an abortive holiday, publicly rebuked Lebed for his handling of the
conflict.
Speaking in an interview on NTV Independent Television he said, "I am not completely
satisfied with Lebed's work. During the election campaign, he said if he had power, he
could solve Chechnya. Well now he has power and unfortunately I still can't see any
results. But we're not desperate yet."
But on the ground in Grozny, a marked change was visible. Silence reigned in the city
Thursday morning for the first time since late Monday when Russia's acting commander in
Chechnya, Konstantin Pulikovsky, issued an ultimatum giving civilians 48 hours to flee
the city or face a major attack.
The ultimatum destroyed a cease-fire struck by Lebed and Maskhadov last week to stop
fighting that has raged in the Chechen capital since Aug. 6.
"Troops will be withdrawn from Grozny because constitutional order cannot be introduced
using air and artillery strikes," a triumphant Lebed told reporters in the villageof
Novye Atagi, about 20 kilometers south of Grozny. "They will be withdrawn from the whole
of Chechnya," he said after a signing ceremony on a second days of talks.
Russian news agencies said Lebed and Maskhadov agreed to cease fire from midday Friday.
Itar-Tass said they had also agreed to an unconditional exchange of all dead and
prisoners.
Over the past few days, thousands of residents streamed from the city as Russian
artillery and aerial rained down, apparently, in preparation for an assault.
But hours after the deadline for the threatened Russian assault expired, the eastward
road from the city, crammed with refugees for the last two days, was completely empty.
Dust blew along the deserted street, stirred by the occasional car. A few residents were
out, fetching water in buckets from hand pumps, keeping close to the buildings. Stray
dogs, barking furiously, chased the only car that passed by.
Up ahead a burst of automatic gunfire crackled, but Russian Interior Ministry, or OMON,
troops trapped in their block post on one bridge, were unconcerned.
"There is some light shooting like that, but it's nothing," said one, a tough-looking
officer with a skinhead haircut.
Lebed's arrival in Chechnya ended two days when Russian generals appeared to be making
policy without any guidance from Moscow.
With the Kremlin remaining silent, neither Lebed nor Defense Minister Igor Rodionov
appeared capable of canceling the ultimatum issued by Pulikovsky and later confirmed by
his superior, General Vyacheslav Tikho mirov.
But Lebed flew into Grozny on Wednesday night promising he would stop the storm and
reassert his authority.
Lebed's press secretary said in an interview that Pulikovsky had been removed from his
post with the order signed Thursday.
After arriving in Chechnya on Wednesday evening, Lebed flew on to meet with Maskhadov
for two hours in Novy Atagi.
According to Russian journalists, Lebed left the meeting at 10:30 p.m., driving in a
Chechen businessman's Mercedes to the nearest Russian post, with his entourage of four
spetsnaz bodyguards and 10 more servicemen, his press secretary and the Russian press
corps.
The journalists said he met with Tikhomirov, now back from vacation and commanding
troops in Chechnya once more. They talked until 5 a.m. at Khankala, the main Russian
base on the edge of Grozny, apparently agreeing to call off the storm.
Thursday morning Lebed was back in rebel-held Novy Atagi, sitting with Maskhadov.
Meeting journalists during a break in talks, the two men sat face to face over a table
spread with a large color map of Chechnya.
Smoking cigarettes from a black cigarette holder, Lebed appeared at ease in his
shirtsleeves, sitting upstairs in the large house of a Chechen businessman.
Asked if the bombardment of Grozny, which intensified Wednesday, would stop, he said: "I
am going to Grozny to ensure that it remains quiet."
"We remembered that we both served in one army," said the former general and commander
of the 14th army, smiling at Maskhadov, a former colonel in the Soviet Army.
"We many times believed in peace talks," Maskhadov said. "Now I want to take the word of
an officer, that yes is yes, and no is no," he said.
Later asked if he thought Lebed had the power to bring peace, he chuckled and said: "He
gave his word."
Over 400 Russian troops have died in the last two weeks of fighting. Soldiers outside
Grozny were delighted at the progress of the talks.
"It is good if it is quiet, then we can go home," said Lieutenant Colonel Leonid
Selyutin, who commanded an Interior Ministry police unit from Buryatia, guarding a
bridge east of the city.
"It all depends on Lebed and whether [Yeltsin] backs him."
But Vassily, the OMON officer trapped in his post inside the city, said he thought
Russian forces should push the Chechen rebels out of the city by force before signing
any agreement.
"Lebed cares more about them than he does about us," he said, jerking his chin up the
road toward Chechen positions.
The Chechen fighters gave Lebed a jubilant thumbs-up. "He is a military man, he has seen
it all, he has fought in wars and seen blood being spilled. I think he is a serious man
and keeps his word," said Visita Israilov, 26, wearing a black T-shirt with the Chechen
emblem of a wolf emblazoned on the front.
Joseph Pothier
Robert Ireland <air...@zapcom.net> wrote:
>
>from: The Saint Petersburg Press (Russia)
>
Robert,
Thanks for posting this. I too read the SPP. I understand from
todays NPR broadcast that Levbed is *NOT* offering Chechyna
independence, only autonomy within the Russian Republic. This is
the same deal the Russians offered three years ago.
JP
Richard Glen Cheek
Joseph Pothier wrote:
>
> Robert Ireland <air...@zapcom.net> wrote:
> >
> >from: The Saint Petersburg Press (Russia)
> >
>
> Robert,
>
> Thanks for posting this. I too read the SPP. I understand from
> todays NPR broadcast that Levbed is *NOT* offering Chechyna
> independence, only autonomy within the Russian Republic. This is
> the same deal the Russians offered three years ago.
>
Hi Joe,
I don't think it is. The verbatim agreement maybe the same, but the context
it is offered in is much different. What the Russians are doing, as they look
for a way to extract their proverbial nuts from the fire, is trying to save
their reputation as a major power as they begin to tuck tail. The militias
have won there and will eventually break free from Russian control as did
Wallachia, Serbia and Bulgaria break free from Turkish control.
The Super-state has accepted so many obligations, most cannot fight a
protracted guerrilla war anymore. Even our Federal government could not
maintain such an expenditure for long. Where would it find the money?
Times are achangin'.
Richard Cheek
--
1ľ
H. McDaniel
Richard Glen Cheek <rch...@pop.erols.com> writes:
>Joseph Pothier wrote:
>>
>> Robert Ireland <air...@zapcom.net> wrote:
>> >
>> >from: The Saint Petersburg Press (Russia)
>> >
>>
>> Robert,
>>
>> Thanks for posting this. I too read the SPP. I understand from
>> todays NPR broadcast that Levbed is *NOT* offering Chechyna
>> independence, only autonomy within the Russian Republic. This is
>> the same deal the Russians offered three years ago.
>>
>Hi Joe,
>I don't think it is. The verbatim agreement maybe the same, but the context
>it is offered in is much different. What the Russians are doing, as they look
>for a way to extract their proverbial nuts from the fire, is trying to save
>their reputation as a major power as they begin to tuck tail. The militias
>have won there and will eventually break free from Russian control as did
>Wallachia, Serbia and Bulgaria break free from Turkish control.
>The Super-state has accepted so many obligations, most cannot fight a
>protracted guerrilla war anymore. Even our Federal government could not
>maintain such an expenditure for long. Where would it find the money?
Money *did* play a part in the Russian loss of the Chechen war (and they
have lost -- it looks.) But I don't think money is as important as the
will of one's soldiers to fight. The Russian soldiers/command was never
wholly dedicated to the task of defeating the Chechens. Even with the
very best equipment and supplies, the Russians still would have lost
to the superior morale and unified idealism of the Chechens (that part
of them who supported the fight against Russia that is.)
-McDaniel
Joseph Pothier
Richard Glen Cheek <rch...@pop.erols.com> wrote:
>
>Joseph Pothier wrote:
>>
>> Robert Ireland <air...@zapcom.net> wrote:
>> >
>> >from: The Saint Petersburg Press (Russia)
>> >
>>
>> Robert,
>>
>> Thanks for posting this. I too read the SPP. I understand from
>> todays NPR broadcast that Levbed is *NOT* offering Chechyna
>> independence, only autonomy within the Russian Republic. This is
>> the same deal the Russians offered three years ago.
>>
>
>Hi Joe,
>I don't think it is. The verbatim agreement maybe the same, but the context
>it is offered in is much different. What the Russians are doing, as they look
>for a way to extract their proverbial nuts from the fire, is trying to save
>their reputation as a major power as they begin to tuck tail. The militias
>have won there and will eventually break free from Russian control as did
>Wallachia, Serbia and Bulgaria break free from Turkish control.
>
>The Super-state has accepted so many obligations, most cannot fight a
>protracted guerrilla war anymore. Even our Federal government could not
>maintain such an expenditure for long. Where would it find the money?
>
>Times are achangin'.
>
>
>Richard Cheek
>--
>1=BE
>
>
Hi Robert,
We are just have to agree to disagree on this. I agree that the
context is different, I wounder *HOW* different. The Russians
might not be looking for a way to get out, but time to launch a
counter-offensive. Although your citations for Srebia and Bulgaria
are correct for the Ottoman Empire in the late 19th Century, I
fail to see how this applies to Russia via-a-vis Checheynia in the
late 20th century.
Also, I point out that the Chechnians, if they accept the final
agreement, will give up trying for independence for five years. I
was under the impression they were demanding immediate
independence.
I also wish to point out that the central government in Moscow has
yet to approve any of Levbed's negotiations. Pursuant to this
point I herein append the following article from the 2 September
1996 issue of *The Times* [London].
My best,
JP
September 2 1996
RUSSIA
Kremlin subdued as Chechens hail
Lebed's peace
FROM RICHARD BEESTON IN MOSCOW
GENERAL Aleksandr Lebed returned to Moscow at the
weekend to persuade the Russian leadership, in particular
President Yeltsin, to accept the terms of his peace deal with
the
Chechens.
While the pact was hailed as a victory by jubilant Chechens
and
by Russians opposed to the war, at the highest levels of the
Kremlin the signals were decidedly mixed and nobody openly
praised General Lebed's achievement.
Viktor Chernomyrdin, the Prime Minister, said yesterday that
he
would chair a meeting today to examine if the peace agreement
was acceptable. "I am convinced that we are on the right path
now," said Mr Chernomyrdin, regarded as a political rival of
General Lebed, but also one of the key anti-war figures in
the
Government.
After a marathon negotiating session, General Lebed signed a
joint declaration and a list of basic principles with Colonel
Aslan
Maskhadov, the Chechen rebel chief of staff, on Saturday
morning. The deal put off resolving the key issue of Chechen
sovereignty for five years until December 31, 2001.
It also called for the establishment of a joint commission on
October 1 to monitor the complete pullout of Russian forces
from
the breakaway republic and oversee a pro gramme for the
social
and economic recovery of the devastated nation. Moments after
signing the document, near the Chechen border at the
Dagestani
town of Khasavyurt, General Lebed declared: "The war is
over".
As street celebrations erupted across Chechenia at the
weekend, there was no doubt in anyone's mind that the final
decision on the agreement lay with President Yeltsin. The
Russian leader, resting at a hunting lodge outside Moscow,
has
had no face-to-face contact with General Lebed since peace
efforts began three weeks ago. Opinion is divided over
whether
he is too sick to carry out his duties, or is deliberately
absenting
himself to avoid making a difficult decision.
At the weekend, President Yeltsin cast doubt over the deal
when
he refrained from congratulating General Lebed. Instead, the
presidential spokesman said the Russian leader was awaiting a
"detailed report".
Key members of the Kremlin leadership and the opposition
dislike the peace agreement because they fear the ambitions
of
the power-hungry General Lebed. With Mr Yeltsin's health
failing,
General Lebed would be in a commanding position if fresh
presidential elections took place in the near future.