The Russian Prime Minister, Mr Vladimir Putin, has offered a conditional amnesty to Chechen rebels who lay down their arms.
"All those carrying arms and who are not on our side, but whose hands are not stained with the blood of Russian citizens, will not be a target of any repression," Mr Putin said yesterday in a television interview to mark his 100 days in office.
"If necessary we will ask the Duma [the lower house of parliament] to approve this amnesty," he added.
Asked about an eventual assault on the Chechen capital, Grozny, which is 80 per cent surrounded by Russian forces, Mr Putin said: "Everything depends on the situation, several options are possible. The best thing would be that people understand that they must lay down their arms."
Meanwhile, an intense artillery barrage yesterday forced a partial Chechen retreat from UrusMar tan, a key rebel bastion preventing federal forces from encircling Grozny, Russian troops said.
Warplanes and helicopter gun-ships flew 86 combat missions, blasting 31 towns and villages as Russian generals stepped up the drive to crush resistance in the breakaway republic after eight weeks of fighting.
Russian commanders said they were preparing to launch a decisive push to blockade Grozny but ruled out storming UrusMartan which could lead to heavy troop losses.
Instead the town, one of only two major centres still in Chechen hands, was pummelled by howitzers and ground-attack jets all day.
However, Chechen Gen. Issa Munayev denied Russian military claims that Chechen forces were fast pulling out of Grozny and fleeing to the mountains.
The tightening noose around Grozny has coincided with an intensification of the electronic war waged against the separatist republic, designed to disrupt communications between rebel field commanders.
Moscow admitted jamming the regional satellite and mobile phone network, a move that also caused havoc for correspondents still working in Grozny.
Russian forces have looted homes in several Chechen villages that they have captured, Human Rights Watch said in a report yesterday based on interviews with refugees.
The report said looting had been recorded in the Naurskaya district north of the Terek River, as well as the western village of Sernovodsk and the south-western settlement of Yermolosky.
It said soldiers stripped houses of food and valuables - even floorboards for fire-wood.
One villager, Ms Markha Isa yeva, was quoted as saying her home in the Naurskaya district was looted shortly after she returned there after the Russian advance.
When she asked a soldier why he was removing the floor, he replied: "We've got to have fuel for our stoves . . . we have to build shields for our positions."