Chechen rebels killed 16 Russian soldiers as they stormed an armoured army column in the southeast of the breakaway republic, a separatist Chechen website said today.
The radical Chechen site, Kakvaz Center, quoted warlord Khattab saying that 15 other Russian troops were wounded in Friday's attack near the village of TsaVedeno.
The Russian military high command declined comment and no independent confirmation was available, Echo of Moscow radio reported.
The New Year has seen a sharp escalation of fighting in Chechnya.
Russian forces claimed yesterday to have killed numerous separatists in the south of the republic, while rebels have stepped up their operations.
Russian forces entered Chechnya on October 1, 1999 to put down a separatist insurgency in what Moscow describes as an anti-terrorist operation.
Preliminary contact between Moscow and the rebels in November, with representatives from the Kremlin and Chechen separatist president Aslan Maskhadov, failed to make political progress.
AFP