Moscow - Russian forces said yesterday they had intensified their offensive in the breakaway Chechnya region, attacking the capital Grozny and inflicting heavy losses on Islamic fighters in a southern valley.
Russian news agencies quoted both federal and Chechen military sources as saying "anti-terrorist operations" had been stepped up in recent days, with Grozny coming under relentless fire from warplanes and artillery.
The Russian Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Nikolai Koshman, the government's special representative, told commercial television that civilians had been offered a corridor to escape the intensified attacks.