After enduring bitter street fights in Grozny and mountain battles with hundreds of rebels, the Russian military is facing a new threat: raids in rear areas supposedly controlled by Russian forces.
Senior Russian commanders disclosed Thursday that rebels had sneaked through a dense fog Tuesday morning and set fire to a Russian field hospital, one of only four that the Russian forces have in Chechnya.
The rebels also have been mining roads behind Russian lines. And Russian commanders have warned their troops that the rebels may try to send small groups of saboteurs disguised as civilians into Russian-controlled settlements such as Gudermes, Chechnya’s second-largest city.
The rebels’ new tactics apparently reflect their determination to inflict high casualties on Russian troops in the hope of producing a stalemate and turn the Russian public against the war.
The tactics also are an effort by the rebels to take advantage of the dense mist, rain and snow flurries that have descended on Chechnya, slowing Russian military operations on all fronts.
The bad weather has made it virtually impossible for the Russian military to mount effective bombing and helicopter attacks, temporarily erasing one of its main advantages.
