RUSSIA's armed forces, facing an avalanche of criticism for failing to defend the southern frontier of the federation against yesterday's Chechen incursion were given a near impossible task, say military experts.
The Chechen rebels were able to reach the town of Kizlyar, deep inside what should be secure Russian territory. There were suggestions the Russians let in the Chechens deliberately to justify a renewed Russian offensive against them.
But a former British army official who was in the area recently organised and equipped they did not stand a chance of stopping the Chechens slipping across the vast and frozen expanses of the plains south of Grozny and north into Dagestan.
After 13 months, during which the Russians flattened the Chechen capital, Grozny, between 200 and 400 armed Chechen rebels have managed to trick or fight their way between 50 and 100 miles from their hide outs across the border into neighbouring Dagestan and north to Kizlyar, taking more than 1,000 people hostage.
The raiding party is reported to be part of a group called the "Lone Wolf", founded last year by Mr Sal man Raduyev, the son in law of rebel leader, Gen Dzhokhar Dudayev, who is now in hiding in the Caucasus.
An enraged President Yeltsin yesterday vented his anger on the Russian Border Guards (PV), who are responsible not only for defending international borders, but are also deployed on the borders of the unstable republics within the Russian Federation.
Russian security sources yesterday were at a loss to explain how a significant force of Chechen rebels moved so far, through what Mr Yeltsin said were "thousands" of Russian army troops and border guards, who should have had modern surveillance technology at their disposal, and to reach the River Terek, which was yesterday reported to be under Chechen fire.
During the fighting in Grozny a year ago, in December and January, the Russians obliterated resistance in the city and began to push south towards the icy barrier of Caucasus mountains. But the Chechen rebels managed to hold out in what has long been recognised as some of the most perfect country for guerrilla warfare.
Before the recent fighting Chechnya's population was about a million. With an estimated 90 per cent of the surviving male population of military age bearing arms, that gives the Chechens up to 150,000 men. The women and children are reported to be sheltering in the mountains, but the men still control the villages south of Grozny and the road to Gudermes.
Col Charles Blandy, who was in the area last month, said "Given the quality of personnel the Russians have there I don't think they had a chance. They have an appalling standard of training... Little things like the security at checkpoints. There are no trenches, nothing." The Chechen war effort is still being directed by Mr Aslan Maskhadov, the chief of staff who master minded the defence of Grozny.
Last week, a new hard line Russian commander, Lieut Gen General Vyacheslav Tikhomirov, was appointed. Yesterday he told Russian radio "I don't negotiate with bandit chiefs of staff" a reference to Mr Maskhadov. His predecessor, Lieut Gen Anatoly Romanov, who had reached an understanding with Mr Maskhadov, was blown up in a bomb attack in October he is still in hospital in Moscow.
The Chechens still appear to be well supplied. Many of their weapons were inherited from the former soviet army when Gen Pavel Grachev, the Defence Minister, ordered a withdrawal from Chechnya in 1992. In addition, the Chechen mafia in Moscow and other major Russian cities has been channelling funds to aid the Chechen cause. And the Chechens have been developing strong links with their fellow Muslims in the Middle East, especially Turkey, from whom they may be acquiring more weapons. They have also acquired other advanced military equipment, including satellite communications.
"They've been fighting the Russians for 250 years," said Col Blandy. "They've never accepted their authority. It's really up to the Russian leadership to recognise they are a people."