Shelling Resumes In Chechnya Russian, Rebel Negotiations On Extending Cease-Fire Fail

The ceasefire in Chechnya expired as the sun went down Sunday, and the first hours of darkness were rent by explosions that promised a resumption of the war in all its ferocity.

Heavy explosions were heard every few minutes in this town about 10 miles south of the Chechen capital, Grozny, but it could not be determined which side was firing.

Earlier, as the five-day truce was in its final hours, Russian and Chehchen rebel officials reportedly consulted by telephone to arrange another round of talks. But the Russian commander said his side “has exhausted existing possibilities to stop armed conflict.”

Russia must now “take adequate measures,” Col. Gen. Anatoly Kulikov said in a statement.

Russia’s peace proposals in the 10-week-old war have amounted to virtual demands for Chechen disarmament. Chechen President Dzhokhar Dudayev has been no more flexible, saying that he is “unconditionally” ready for peace - except for the condition that Russia withdraw its troops.

Moscow’s government press service said the Chechens breached the truce with an attempt to force their way into downtown Grozny late Saturday and with attacks on Russian positions in the city’s southern outskirts.

It said Russian forces “blocked and eliminated” 80 Chechen fighters who attempted an assault from the south, using mortars, grenade launchers and small arms.

The bodies of 18 Russian servicemen killed during the truce were brought to the main military base at Mozdok just outside Chechnya, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported from the base.

Meanwhile, Dudayev’s loyalists were setting up pockets of resistance in settlements to the east of Grozny, the press service said.

In the capital, Russian artillery, mortars and tanks shelled Chechen-held areas into the early hours Sunday, the Interfax news agency reported.

Dudayev’s military aide Musa Merzhuyev, speaking to Interfax, blamed the Russians for violating the cease-fire by repeated artillery bombardments of Chechen positions around Grozny.

Interfax said representatives from both sides were in telephone contact Sunday to determine if and when peace talks should be resumed, and Merzhuyev said even “this illusory chance” should not be wasted.

Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin said Sunday that Moscow wanted to continue negotiations and solve the conflict by political means.

“We favor continuing the negotiating process,” ITAR-Tass quoted Chernomyrdin as saying in Kaliningrad on his return from a trip to Poland.