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![]() Tuesday, November 9, 1999 Published at 22:00 GMT ![]() ![]() World: Europe ![]() Chechnya fears 'total destruction' ![]() Russia's offensive continues, as refugees cope with bitterly cold weather ![]() Chechnya's foreign minister says Russia will not halt its attacks until it has obliterated the breakaway republic. "The Chechen people are now standing on the threshold of total destruction," said Iyas Akhmadov.
He said Russia had spurned all attempts to sit down at a negotiating table since the beginning of its Chechen offensive six weeks ago. lyas Akhmadov spoke during a visit to France, as international fears grew of a humanitarian crisis. A mounting refugee problem and growing numbers of civilian casualties have led to a chorus of Western countries demanding an end to the offensive.
One of the few foreign organisations operating at the camps said the Russian stations providing first aid were catastrophically short of supplies. A delegation from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is visiting Chechnya's neighbouring republic of Ingushetia on Wednesday to observe the impact of the offensive.
It will be the first time any Western officials have visited the area for a week.
The delegation, which Russia has not allowed into Chechnya itself, plans to study the situation on the ground and the prospects for assisting refugees.
Click here to see a map of the region
BBC correspondent Paul Anderson says it will hear harrowing accounts of indiscriminate brutality against Chechen civilians by Russian forces.
The mission will then report back to the OSCE summit in Istanbul on 18 November.
France said on Tuesday that Russia had "lost its way". But Russia continues to reject all criticism, saying it is determined to wipe out separatist "terrorists". "We are dealing with armed groups which are well armed and trained and financed from abroad," Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putinn said on Tuesday. "Our actions are fully appropriate in view of the threat Russia is facing."
They will be deployed around the capital Grozny, and Chechnya's second-largest city, Gudermes, in further attempts to cut off the two cities.
Battles were limited to sporadic fighting at Gudermes, and the western Chechen mountain stronghold of Bamut. Both have been under heavy Russian fire for weeks. The Russian military denied reports that it had captured the village of Bamut. But it said it flew more than 20 missions over southern Chechnya, targeting the rebel stronghold of Urus-Martan. No casualty figures were available for Tuesday.
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