MOSCOW, NOV 6: Russian artillery pounded Chechnya overnight on Friday, killing at least 11 people according to Grozny as the Russian press speculated that President Boris Yeltsin was about to sack his premier. Reports on Saturday said Yeltsin, under Western pressure, could be about to suspend the military offensive in Chechnya and sack Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. ``The President has taken the decision to stop military operations in Chechnya (.) and the decision to dismiss Putin has practically already been taken in the Kremlin,'' said Russian daily Komsomolskaya Pravda, quoting a ``well-informed and trustworthy source''. It also suggested Yeltsin would ask Putin on Monday to negotiate with the President of the breakaway republic, Aslan Maskhadov, and sack the military leaders conducting the conflict. The same news was reported by Moscow daily Nezavissimaya Gazeta, citing Yeltsin's love of political drama and his frustration at seeing Prime Minister Putin lead the country for the past fewweeks and reap all the political benefits.Vladimir Putin's hard line on Chechnya has been rewarded by a sharp rise in popularity whereas Yeltsin's actions have faced criticism. Russian generals, still smarting from the humiliation of the disastrous 1994-1996 war in Chechnya, have stressed that this time their aim is to crush the breakaway republic without compromise. Chechen military chief Isa Munayev reported on Saturday that 10 people were killed and at least 15 injured when federal artillery pounded the southeastern towns of Elistanji and Dyshn Vedeno. At least one civilian was killed during intense bombing, Munayev added.
