Battle for Chechen village

Russian troops have been hit by a spate of rebel ambushes

Chechen rebels say their forces have stormed the village of Zhanni-Vedeno in south-eastern Chechnya, killing at least 20 Russian troops.

But the rebel claim has been denied by the Kremlin's top spokesman on Chechnya, Sergei Yastrzhembsky.

A report on the pro-Chechen website Kavkaz-Tsentr said the rebels seized the village in an overnight raid, killing more than 20 Russian soldiers and knocking out four armoured vehicles.

The report said several rebels were wounded in the assault.

The rebels repulsed a Russian counter-attack on Monday morning, the website said.

Bombing raids

Russian forces were "carrying out intensive bombing raids and artillery and rocket strikes on the village," it said.

Denying the report, Mr Yastrzhembsky told the Interfax news agency that the opposite was true.

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"The federal artillery heavily pounded a concentration of rebels in the area of Zhanni-Vedeno on Sunday.

The bodies of dead bandits are being counted. There were no casualties among the federal servicemen," he said.

Mr Yastrzhembsky said he could neither confirm nor deny rumours of the death of separatist warlord Shamil Basayev.

Ingushetia ambush

Earlier this month, 19 Russian troops were killed in an ambush in the neighbouring Russian Republic of Ingushetia, which Moscow blamed on Chechen rebels.

The rebels ambushed a military convoy in Sunzhenskiy District, which borders on Chechnya.

After that attack, the Russian minister responsible for Chechnya, Igor Koshman, said the rebels were infiltrating adjoining regions.

He said such attacks only underlined the need to keep up the offensive against the separatist rebels.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he will only hold talks with separatist Chechen president Aslan Maskhadov if the rebels surrender unconditionally.