Russians capture heights over Grozny

The success, which has so far not been confirmed by Chechen officials, leaves Russian forces with a clear view of Grozny, but General Vladimir Shamanov, commander of the 58th Army leading the drive, was non-committal about an all-out attack on the Chechen capital. 8220;Grozny is not an end in itself. If an order is given to take the city, we will,8221; ITAR-TASS quoted him as saying.

His boss General Viktor Kazantsev, the overall commander of federal government forces in the North Caucasus, also played down talk of a full frontal assault on Grozny. 8220;That has no sense. We don8217;t need it. Is it a strategicobjective or an important height? What8217;s precious about it? You have to understand that our tactics are quite different,8221; he told Saturday8217;s edition of the Izvestia Daily.

The late night development came after Russian troops stormed the key rebel stronghold of Goragorsky some 60 kilometres 40 miles West of the capital.The site of intense battles for much of this week, Goragorsky fell into Russian hands on Friday almost without any fighting as outnumbered Chechen rebels retreated towards the capital shortly before the federal troops moved in from all sides. Russia poured thousands of troops, armour and heavy artillery, backed by ground-attack aircraft and helicopter gunships, into Chechnya on October 1, ostensibly to wipe out Islamic militants operating out of the republic.