Fear blooms in Chechen spring

Russian troops fear imminent new guerilla attacks

By Robert Parsons in Chechnya

Springtime has arrived in Chechnya and as the harsh winter weather abates, people are attempting to return to their homes.

All 400 cities and settlements of the republic have suffered the effects of the war - some towns, such as Duba Yurt, sustaining damage of up to 80%.

The winter snow has melted, but the war grinds on.

Duba Yurt has been ravaged by the war

A Russian armoured column emerges through a cloud of dust and scatters a herd of cows.

Moscow's massive display of force has pressed the Chechens back into the mountains, but the war is far from over.

A series of costly ambushes on military columns has shaken confidence.

There is a palpable feeling of tension among the troops.

Its cause is all around them - spring has arrived in the Caucasus mountains.

New phase

The leaf cover is back - the ambush season is about to begin.

Convoys only move now when they're guaranteed helicopter support.

Veteran officers like Colonel Sergei Baranov know that this means more opportunities for the Chechens to attack.

"We're entering a new phase of the war," he told us, "because small groups of bandits will be able to get closer to the roads and hit our military convoys."

No solutions

Isa cuts a forlorn figure as he rakes amidst the ruins of Duba Yurt, a small and mostly abandoned village in the foothills of the Caucasus.

Isa's home was destroyed by four Russian shells

It is ravaged by the war, and Isa's own home is now a charred shell, obliterated one night by Russian artillery.

He said: "If fresh minds aren't brought in to find a political solution to this conflict, then this war could go on for years and years and years."

But nobody, it seems, is listening to Isa.

The voice of the ordinary men and women of Chechnya is being drowned out by the sound of war.

There's not a single hamlet, village or town in the republic which hasn't been scarred by the fighting. The wounds may never heal.