THE Kremlin troubleshooter, Mr Alexander Lebed, yesterday prepared for a third peace mission to Chechnya as thousands of panic stricken civilians, fearing an all out Russian army assault against rebel positions, tried to flee the city of Grozny.
The crisis in the republic was also being fought out in the Kremlin, where hardliners and the peace camp battled to gain the upper hand in the absence of the ailing President Boris Yeltsin.
Mounting disquiet about President Yeltsin's health, following reports - denied by the Kremlin - that the president was having heart treatment at a special unit, came a day after he ordered his security chief, Mr Lebed, to restore order in Grozny.
But Lebed aides yesterday cast doubts on the president's personal role in issuing the orders, his press service saying it was unlikely that President Yeltsin had signed the order which forces Mr Lebed's hand over Chechnya.
The former general is seen to be dovish on the Chechnya war, having repeatedly denounced the Russian military intervention and called for peace.
Gen Konstantin Pulikovsky, the interim commander of the Russian forces in Chechnya, threatened on Monday to attack Grozny in 48 hours with all means at his disposal.
Gen Vyacheslav Tikhomirov, who was reappointed to replace Gen Pulikovsky as Russian commander in Chechnya, said on returning to Khankala military base just outside Grozny that his aim was to oust the rebels from the city "using all means, political or military".
A fragile truce since last Wednesday finally collapsed yesterday. In the Zavodskoy and Chernorechye suburbs, Russian troops fired in the air to push back refugees desperate to leave. It is reported that 150,000 civilians remain in Grozny.
Chechen rebels yesterday accused Russian forces of killing over 100 civilians as they fled the city by pounding a bridge with artillery. The accusation could not be confirmed.