The Russian news agency Interfax says a senior Russian general has categorically denied that his forces suffered heavy casualties in Chechnya in recent clashes.

Yesterday the same news agency said military sources had reported thirty-three soldiers had been killed in fighing on Wednesday and Thursday.

But today it quoted the first deputy chief of the general staff General Valery Manilov as saying that the report was based on incorrect data which had misinformed the Russian and international public.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service