CHECHEN separatists have broken through a Russian siege of the rebel stronghold of Novogrozny in eastern Chechnya and have left the town, a separatist official said yesterday.
Mr Movlady Mussayev, the chief of staff for the Chechen military commander, Shaniyl said that rebel troops began breaking through Russian lines on Monday night and had all left the town by midday yesterday.
There was no independent confirmation of the report and it was impossible to get within 10 km of Novogrozny, which had been under steady Russian fire since last week and had been surrounded since Sunday.
Earlier yesterday Russian forces said that they had entered the town and were in control of part of it.
The commander of the Russians forces in Chechnya, General Vyacheslav Tikhomirov, said that about 30 Russian soldiers were killed in fighting around Novogrozny, as well as 170 rebels, according to the ITAR-TASS news agency.
In Moscow, President Boris Yeltsin yesterday issued a decree replacing the Russian territorial administration in Chechnya with a new structure, to be called the Representation of the Russian government. Mr Yeltsin named Mr Nikolai Fedosov to head this government body, which will co ordinate activities with the pro Moscow government until "the complete restoration (in Chechnya) of the application of the Russian constitution and federal laws, and until the social and economic situation is stabilised."
The German Chancellor, Dr Helmut Kohl, yesterday gave his strong backing to President Boris Yeltsin and said it would be "idiotic" for the west to stop giving aid to Russia. In a clear vote of confidence in Mr Yeltsin before Russia's presidential election in June, Dr Kohl described the president as a reliable partner.
He told a Moscow news conference that he welcomed the Russian leader's decision to run again in the June election.