Putin visits Chechnya

By Vladimir Radyuhin

MOSCOW, JAN. 1. Hours after taking over as Russia's acting President, Mr. Vladimir Putin paid a surprise visit to Russian soldiers fighting in Chechnya to emphasise the war agenda of his Government and stress his resolve to crush Chechen rebels.

Shown live on Russian television greeting Russian forces in the town of Gudermes in the early hours of Jan. 1, Mr. Putin, who also retains his post of Prime Minister, vowed to pursue the military operation in Chechnya to the victorious end. ``I have myself devised the military tactics and there is no point changing it after it has brought concrete results,'' Mr. Putin said. ``I am even more able (in the new post) to pursue this direction, without hysteria and haste.''

The trip, on which Mr. Putin was accompanied by his wife, looked very much like the first step in his presidential election campaign. Following Mr. Boris Yeltsin's ahead-of-time resignation on Friday, new elections are to be held at the end of March.

``Whoever is elected Russia's President will have to tackle the problem of terrorism, the problem of Chechnya,'' Mr. Putin said after chatting to the troops and presenting hunting knives to some of them.

The war in Chechnya has made Mr. Putin Russia's most popular politician and the prime candidate for President. The acting President today confirmed earlier suggestions that the war in Chechnya will be the cornerstone of his election platform.

``This (war) is not just about restoring the honour and dignity of Russia,'' he told Russian frontline troops. ``It is rather more important than that. It is about putting an end to the break-up of the Russian Federation. That is the main task. Russia is grateful to you.''

Mr. Putin said he was not setting any deadlines for ending the Chechen campaign, but military sources told the Itar- Tass news agency that the operation must end before March 26, the date of presidential elections.

In a report from Chechnya, the NTV television said today that Russian forces attacking the Chechen capital Grozny were encountering stiff resistance and were losing about 10 soldiers killed just in one district of the besieged city.

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