RUSSIA: CHECHNYA: GROZNY: SPETSNAZ TROOPS ON PATROL

(5 Feb 1995) Russian/Nat Russian forces are continuing to tighten their grip on the Chechen capital, Grozny. Russian special forces - or “Spetsnaz“ - are charged with maintaining law and order in the capital. APTV accompanied the elite Interior Ministry troops as they patrolled the devastated city. The airport in Grozny is now the headquarters of the Russian army operation . It is from here that these Interior Ministry troops set out in their armoured personnel carrier (APC). These are elite soldiers - their exact base is a secret and their tasks change daily. Their assignment today was to patrol the area around the presidential palace - scene of some of the heaviest fighting before the Russians took control of the centre of Grozny. Virtually the only civilians left in the city are Russians. They have no money and nowhere else to go. They only dare leave their homes during the relative safety of daylight - during the night they would be caught in the Russian-Che