Chechen fighters work with a map at a headquarters in central Chechnya December 16. The Russian commander in Chechnya promised in an interview published on Thursday to take full control of the separatist region within three weeks despite insistent calls from the West to seek a negotiated solution.

CVI 

Russian army soldiers use a sniffer dog as they check railways near the Chechen city of Argun November 30. A train loaded with Russian military equipment pulled out of rebel Chechnya on Saturday as Russia's last troops in the region prepared to leave. 

Russian soldiers line up inside their base in front of a tent June 8 which will be used as a polling station for the June 16 Russian presidential election. Russian [President Boris Yeltsin] said on Sunday he was confident of winning next week's election, which will decide the fate of democratic reforms almost five years after the Soviet Union broke up 

Chechnyen women protesters outside OSCE mission in Grozny May 25. A first round of peace talks aimed at ending war in Chechnya broke down after four hours 

Russian soldiers smoke on a train carrying destroyed armored vehicles out of Chechnya, at Chervlyonaya Station, 40 kilometers outside of Grozny, March 23. Some refugees are returning to Grozny while fighting continues in other parts of the break-away Russian republic. *RUSSIA OUT 

A group of Chechens stand with their hands up at the Russian checkpoint near the village of Samashki February 5 after Russian soldiers found a couple of bullets in their car. Russian Army continues to battle Chechen rebel forces in the centre of the capital of the breakaway republic 

A masked Chechen boy, armed with AK-47 machine-gun monitors a road at a checkpoint near the village of Bamut, some 50 km west of the capital Grozny,January 18 

Chechen refugee children wait for distribution of water in a train, which houses more than 150 Chechen refugees from the capital Grozny on January 3 

Chechen president Dzokhar Dudayev presents a document to the press which he says proves the Kremlin is planning to deport the Chechen population and replace them with Russians loyal to President-Boris-Yeltsin, during a press conference at the Presidential Palace in Grozny, December 15 

Chechen fighter cheers and praise Allah, as they assemble in the center of Grozny, December 14rth 

Pro-Dudayev Chechen forces defend themselves against air attack at a position outside the capital of Grozny, December 12th 

Cossacks arrive at the central square in Grozny December 12th to help defend the Chechen capital from the Russian army 

A column of Russian tanks and armored vehicles roll 40 kilometers into Tolstoyurt in Chechnya, December 11 

Chechen soldiers load anti-aircraft ammunition onto a gun at an defense position twenty kilometers from Grozny, December 10. in if 

A pro-Dudayev moslem militiaman kneels on his jacket with a rifle close at hand to recite his mid-day prayers in central Grozny December 4