The Russian command has thrown as many as 50,000 Russian troops into its brutal invasion of the territory, relying heavily on air power and artillery fire. The campaign began in September of last year. The generals met early success, as Moscow's forces overran most of the country's lowlands, especially in the northern areas. The casualty rate has climbed, however, as Moscow has attacked Grozny, where perhaps 2,000 Chechen fighters are firmly entrenched.

"We believe the number of soldiers and officers killed in the battlefield...is 3,000," said Valentina Melnikova of the Association of Soldiers' Mothers on January 16. Moscow admits to around a sixth of that number.

The Russian army's advantage in numbers and firepower is somewhat balanced by the experience and resilience of the Chechen snipers and infantry. The Chechen fighters also enjoy support among working people in the areas under dispute. "They just popped up among the civilians," said Maj. Gen. Sergei Madarov, the commander of the Eastern Group of Russian Forces in Chechnya, after his outfit recovered to beat back a January 9 Chechen attack in the town of Shali.

Independence forces attacked in the nearby town of Argun at the same time. Both towns are near Grozny. "We believed the elders that there were no bandits among them but they let us down," said Boris Maksin, chief of staff of the Interior Ministry troops.

After the clashes in Argun and Shali, Moscow ordered the detention and interrogation of all Chechen males between the ages of 10 and 60. This crackdown and the indiscriminate bombardment that has characterized the offensive give lie to the claim by president Vladimir Putin that "we regard the civilians in Chechnya as our citizens and we will not sacrifice them to achieve our military aims." Around 40,000 people remain in Grozny, "trapped in cold, dank cellars with little or no food," according to a Reuters report.  
 

Heavy toll of invasion

Chechnya is paying a heavy price for the invasion. New York Times journalist Michael Gordon reported on January 17 that "most oil wells have stopped working and 12 wells have caught fire, burning 2,500 tons of oil a day. Six thousand people used to work in Chechnya's oil industry, but that work force has shrunk to 500....

"Most of Chechnya's cattle, sheep and poultry have perished. Of 900,000 acres of farmland, only 67,000 have been ploughed and 21,000 sown with winter wheat," he continued.

"With tuberculosis and other diseases stalking Chechnya, medical care is a major worry. There were about 11,000 hospital beds in Chechnya in the early 1990s. Today there are only 2,200."

The U.S. rulers and the various imperialists in Europe have criticized the invasion, feigning concern for its humanitarian cost. These powers seek to humiliate and pressure Moscow.

"Working level" officials of the U.S. State Department met the foreign minister of the besieged Chechen government, Ilyas Akhmadov, on January 13. "These discussions do not constitute...recognition of Chechnya," said department spokesperson James Rubin.

"We are not asking for money or weapons," said Akhmadov. He said that 10,000 civilians have died in the conflict, and that the Chechen troops are able to buy weapons from Russian soldiers. Moscow greeted his visit with alarm.

Columnist William Safire said in an opinion column, "The civilized world cannot allow the all-out war on the Chechen people to continue without consequences."

Washington cannot intervene militarily, he wrote, "because—as we were warned again last week—Russia is a nuclear power." He advised "heavier media attention and unrelenting diplomatic pressure."

The administration of President William Clinton accompanies its criticism of the Chechnya aggression with demands on Moscow to amend the 1972 Antiballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty. The treaty's provision would forbid the deployment of an antimissile system presently under development by the Pentagon.  
 

Moscow resists U.S. pressure

If anything, Moscow's resistance to the changes is stiffening. "If ever the U.S. leaves the ABM treaty of 1972, the international situation will start to deteriorate," said Russian defense minister Marshal Igor Sergeyev on January 17, during a meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Chi Haotian.

"Attempts to make Taiwan join the creation and unveiling of a theater of war antiballistic missile system are a serious interference into China's internal affairs and will necessarily be seriously repulsed by the Chinese people," said Chi.

Three days earlier Moscow had released a new doctrine of national defense. "The level and scale of military threats is growing," states the document, referring to the U.S. imperialists. It authorizes the government to use all forces "including nuclear weapons" if other methods failed to repel an attack.

"The doctrine replaces one adopted in 1997, a time when political and military partnership with the West were still buzzwords and many Russians remained optimistic about the country's economic future," reported the Associated Press.

Sergei Sorkut, a military affairs writer at the Nezavisimaya Gazeta newspaper, which published the doctrine, commented that "the idea of partnership has vanished."  
 
 
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