Russian forces yesterday claimed to have killed a "large number" of Chechen rebels making a run on its territory in a skirmish that threatened to spark new fighting in the volatile Caucasus region.
Interior Minister Vladimir Rushailo's announcement, however, was denounced by the Chechens as a politically motivated fabrication.
Mr Rushailo said helicopter gunships patrolling Russia's border with the breakaway republic spotted nearly 200 Chechens mounting a pre-dawn attack on interior ministry troops manning a local checkpoint.
It was unclear from his statement whether Russian helicopters crossed into Chechnya during the attack. Chechen leaders have vowed to strike back should Russian forces ever enter its territory.
"We are delivering strikes without waiting until they attack us," Mr Rushailo said in remarks broadcast on private NTV television.
He was speaking after a Kremlin meeting with President Boris Yeltsin that focused on the consequences of the 1994-96 Chechen war. "We noticed a group of 150-200 gunmen armed with automatic weapons, who clearly planned to attack our border checkpoints," Mr Rushailo said.
"We used helicopters and mortar fire. The gunmen suffered losses. As far as we can tell through intercepted radio dispatches a large number of them were killed."
He also pointed to Chechen involvement in a string of explosions that shook Moscow this summer. Mr Rushailo, speaking before a senate session last Saturday, warned that Russia was prepared to strike first against the Chechens.
Officials in Moscow said a summit between Mr Yeltsin and his Chechen counterpart, Mr Aslan Maskhadov, discussing the latest flare-up has been tentatively scheduled for later this month.
However, they warned that Russia was prepared to use force if provoked in the region by the Chechens.
"We will respond to such actions with force," said Nationalities Minister Mr Vyacheslav Mikhailov.
He was swiftly denounced by Chechnya's Security Minister Mr Turpalali Atyuliyev as a provocation that served Moscow's internal politics.
"There were no strikes," Mr Atyuliyev said in Grozny. "No one will be allowed to deliver any warning strikes" against Chechnya.
"Rushailo is following his own agenda. By making such statements, he is simply trying to secure his own job," Mr Atyuliyev added. "He is purposefully trying to delude the president."
Russia has said it is stationing 17,000 troops near the border with Chechnya, a heavy involvement that underlines Moscow's fears of losing control of the region.
The 21-month war ended without settling Chechnya's political status, although leaders in Grozny consider themselves independent to this day.
After an initial period of goodwill in 1997 in which Russia promised funding to help rebuild the republic, relations between the two sides entered a deep freeze.
Last month, seven Russians were killed and 15 injured in a night of border fighting. In another attack at the end of June, four men were killed and a dozen injured when a Chechen group attacked an interior ministry outpost.