Target of Moscow's wrath

Mark Webster reports from the Chechen-Ingush border on Russia's military campaign in the region

RUSSIA is determined to pursue its military campaign in the breakaway southern republic of Chechnya to a bloody conclusion, despite growing international outrage. A delegation from the 54- member Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe condemned conditions in the refugee camps that it visited last week but its mediation efforts look likely to fail.

Russian President Boris Yeltsin has indicated a willingness to attend a European summit in Istanbul later this week, along with American President Bill Clinton. But most sources here expect him to pull out at the last minute, ostensibly on health grounds. Instead, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is expected to face western criticism.

After a campaign of apartment bombings in Moscow and other major Russian cities left hundreds of people dead, the vast majority of Russians wanted the government to take a tough line. Even though the various Chechen separatist groups never acknowledged they were behind the bombings, they became an acceptable target for Moscow's wrath.

And Russia's top generals - still smarting from their humiliating defeat in the last Chechen war - have made ominous noises that they will brook no opposition from politicians on this occasion. One said that, if the government would allow him unconstrained power to wage the war, he could bomb Chechnya into annihilation in a week - a coded reference to the use of nuclear weaponry.

In the small neighbouring republic of Ingushetia, which is still part of the Russian Federation, over 200,000 refugees are living in pitiful conditions. In the largest refugee camp, 40 men, women and children were living in half a Russian army tent. In the gloom of the interior, the choking smell of wood smoke from the fire meant conditions were totally unsanitary and many of the children had already developed hacking coughs.

All of them had walked around 20 miles from a large village on the far side of the capital Grozny, hiding from constant Russian air attacks and heavy shelling. Their only source of food is the nightly distribution of soup from Russian army field kitchens. In the queue, women fought with each other in order to fill their plastic buckets with a sloppy mixture the colour and texture of wallpaper paste. The local bread factory is working at full capacity but bread rations are still limited. The refugees have been able to bring precious little with them because strict Russian frontier controls mean that those who owned a car had to abandon it in the 10-mile queue on the Chechen side of the border. From there, a daily procession of refugees sets out with whatever they can carry to the relative safety of Ingushetia.

When they do cross over, the message they want to give is always the same. "Am I a bandit?" one 75-year-old woman asked. "Are my grandchildren bandits? Then why are they bombing us? I don't care about politics. I don't care what happens to any of those Chechen fighters but I care about my family and now look at us." Wiping away tears of exhaustion, she set off down the snow-covered road holding her grandson by the hand. He was too numbed with fatigue to react at all.

In the small local hospital near the Ingush border, the corridors overflow with extra beds and even the cellar is being used as an emergency ward. In one corner, 14-year-old Yusup is tended by his mother. His face and fragile body are so pale, they all but merge with the greying sheets. His brown eyes gaze vacantly at the ceiling.

Yusup was one of 22 children who were in a playground in Grozny when a Russian tank shell landed nearby. Eight children were killed immediately and many others were seriously wounded. If Yusup had been treated straight away, he would be well on the way to recovery. Instead, his mother said, they sheltered for five days in a cellar under the continuing Russian bombardment. When she got Yusup to a doctor, gangrene had set in and both his legs had to be amputated.

Bandages wrap the stumps that were his legs and he faces another major operation. The first was badly botched because it was performed without electricity or proper medication. He cannot be fitted with prosthetic limbs until another part of his legs is cut away. His mother says her husband is dead and she has three young daughters whom she has had to leave in Grozny. Every five days, she risks her life to cross back into Chechnya and make sure they are alright.

Thousands of refugees have been living for weeks in train carriages that have been brought into operation as shelters. There are now 124 carriages in a line stretching three miles down the track. Only now are the refugees getting electricity by rigging wires over the track-side power cables. Heat comes from wood-burning stoves.

IN carriage 53, the smell from more than 70 people living together is overwhelming. Every space has been turned into a bed and a pair of eyes peer out from every corner. They say they are managing as best they can but there are only two baths for the thousands of people, washed clothes freeze on the line outside and the warm, humid interior is a perfect breeding ground for disease.

The authorities' biggest fears are typhus and tuberculosis. Russia is already experiencing a TB epidemic. Since many refugees are already in a weakened state, killer diseases could scythe through their numbers this winter. Moscow repeatedly says that it can manage without outside help, but drugs, doctors and medical facilities are noticeably absent.

Now that Russian soldiers have apparently taken the second largest Chechen city - Gudermes - experts say that it cannot be long before the estimated 100,000 Russian troops launch an all-out attack on Grozny. The rebels say they are fully prepared and could inflict heavy casualties on the Russians. But, this time, it does not seem that even the sight of returning body bags will stop Moscow in its goal of wiping out the Chechen separatists. Not only will it be many months before the refugees can begin their weary trek home, it seems there will not be much left for them to go home to.

Mark Webster is ITN's Moscowcorrespondent

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