RUSSIA'S senior military commander in the North Caucasus, Gen Anatoly Kvashnin, vowed yesterday to "eliminate" by the end of the day separatist rebels besieged by Russian troops for three days in a Chechen village.
Quoted by Itar Tass news agency, he said federal forces were in complete control of the situation around Novogroznensky, a rebel stronghold about 60 km east of the Chechen capital, Grozny.
The statement came as the German Chancellor, Dr Helmut Kohl, began a three day visit to Russia, his ears ringing with allegations from his political opponents that the trip was tantamount to giving his personal blessing to President Yeltsin efforts to remain in the Kremlin.
Although there is little doubt where Dr Kohl's sympathies lie, his officials were at pains to deny that the trip had any connection with the Russian presidential election in June. It was planned before anyone knew that Mr Yeltsin would formally declare his candidacy, officials said. Dr Kohl was merely interested in Russia's "stable development".
The key issues were not Russia's future leadership or the threat to reforms posed by a communist victory, but more immediate concerns, like the Chechen war, economic relations, and the eastern expansion of Nato.
So battered are Mr Yeltsin's democratic credentials these days - not least by the bombardment of the Chechen rebels in Pervomayskoye on January 10th and his recent purge of top liberals - that Dr Kohl is evidently being careful not to be seen to support him too blatantly, for fear of domestic criticism.
He has been under particular pressure to take a tougher line over Chechnya, where fighting raged last night.
The Interfax news agency said Russian forces had trapped up to 1,000 rebels in the Novogroznensky settlement but were unable to advance on them because of heavy fog.
Russian troops claimed to have killed 40 rebels since Sunday.
Mr Yeltsin's questionable record is a problem that does not appear to have bothered other western countries which are rushing to help avert a victory by the communist front runners. Evidently mindful that the beleaguered President faces a growing pile of bills after promising to pay out huge sums to ease social problems, the French last week extended an $800 million credit line; last night Italy weighed in by unfreezing $600 million in credit to Russia.
Although slow to invest in the former Soviet Union, Germany has long been billed as Russia's closest ally in the west, not least because of the warm personal relationship between the two leaders both down to earth men of the same age - 65 - with a shared appetite for the political fray.
However, the mood yesterday was cautious. When Mr Yeltsin said he would not deviate from Russia's course of reforms "by a single centimetre", he won carefully worded approval. "It is not my job to comment on Russian presidential elections but as German Chancellor, I welcome the link Boris Yeltsin has just drawn between his wish for a second term in office and the reform policies" said Dr Kohl.
After a two hour tete a tete in the Kremlin - their 14th official meeting - Mr Yeltsin said they had agreed on "all international issues". The Nato issue was clearly an exception. Mr Yeltsin reiterated that Russia remained "firmly against" enlargement; Dr Kohl was optimistic a solution could be found, although "certainly not now".
. Chechen rebels yesterday freed 12 Russian police commandos, the only remaining hostages from the Pervomaiskoye raid, it was reported.