There are reports of fierce fighting in the Chechen capital, Grozny, with some witnesses saying that many people have been killed. A reporter for the Reuters news agency said a Russian armoured column had advanced deep into the city, but was surrounded and attacked by Chechen rebels. The reporter said a pitched battle ensued, lasting some three hours, and that she had seen more than 100 dead Russian soldiers after arriving at the scene. She said that as many as 2,000 Chechen fighters managed to surround the column.
Earlier, a leading Russian general said that the Chechen capital, Grozny, could be taken by Russian forces within days, but he insisted that it is not Russia's intention to harm civilians still trapped in the city. The Chechen president Aslan Maskhadov has offered to hold talks with Moscow to seek a peaceful solution to the crisis, but he has insisted that the independence of the breakaway republic is not negotiable. Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov said he is ready to offer a "broad compromise" to Moscow in order to end the conflict in the breakaway Republic.
