(11 Dec 1999) Russian/Nat

Chechen refugees who have fled the Russian military advance on Grozny, cast doubts on the validity of Moscow's so-called "humanitarian corridor".

Russia has said that civilians in the Chechen capital Grozny could escape its military campaign, dismissing Western concerns that they would be subjected to an all-out assault.

The Russian military has backed down from an ultimatum for everyone to leave Grozny or die.

On Saturday Russian Emergency Situations Minister Sergei Shoigu flew to the Caucasus region to arrange an exodus of civilians from the Chechen capital.

Senior officials in Moscow and military commanders in Grozny have indicated that there will be no immediate massive assault on the city.

Meanwhile terrified refugees continued to flee the Chechen capital as artillery shells screamed over their heads.

Some say they had long wanted to leave the besieged city, but were filled with fear, afraid of getting in the line of fire.

Many of the remaining civilians have no transportation.

And to make matters worse, since most remaining civilians have been hiding underground for weeks because of the bombing campaign they don't know about the possible escape routes.

Some refugees cast doubts on the very existence of the so-called "safe-corridors".

SOUNDBITE: (Russian)
"There isn't any corridor. You can only get through if you creep in yourself. There's no corridor."
SUPER CAPTION: Voxpop, Malikha - woman refugee

Russia said the first route - through the town of Pervomaiskaya, 12 miles northwest of the capital - was opened on Tuesday, but fewer than a dozen civilians turned up during the first two days.

The second route due to open would lead southwest, through the Grozny suburb of Chernorechye and the town of Alkhan-Yurt.

Meanwhile, Chechen civilians continue to suffer from bombing and artillery raids.

Hospitals are crowded with civilians caught in the crossfire.

Many Chechens are becoming increasingly frustrated - they say that this war is being waged against all Chechen people, and not just against Islamic rebels - a charge Moscow denies.

SOUNDBITE: (Russian)
"I don't believe in the corridor. Why? Because, several times already, they have promised the corridor and then they shot at a refugee column. They went right up to them and shot them at point blank range. And then they say they were shot by Chechen fighters."
SUPER CAPTION: Voxpop, Alikan, injured man in bed

Meanwhile, with scarce food supplies and limited medical facilities life in the camps remains harsh.

In an Interfax news agency report published on Saturday, the leader of the neighbouring Russian region of Ingushetia, Ruslan Aushev, estimates between 25-thousand and 30-thousand civilians are still trapped in Grozny.

He believes most of them are helpless old people and women with children, unable to walk the many miles to escape the city,

But an article published Saturday in the military daily Krasnaya Zvezda contradicts these figures giving a much lower estimate.

According to Russian interior troops commander Vyacheslav Ovchinnikov, between 10-thousand to 12-thousand people remain in Grozny including some 4-thousand rebels.

Russian Emergency Situations Minister Sergei Shoigu flew to the Caucasus region Saturday to help arrange safe passage for refugees from Grozny.

Shoigu indicated on Friday he was prepared to negotiate with Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov.

It was the first time a senior Russian official had shown willingness to meet the republic's leadership since federal forces entered Chechnya in September.




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