NEW FEDERAL COMMANDER FOR CHECHNYA.

In a “planned rotation,” Lieutenant General Vladimir Moltenskoi has been named commander of the Russian Combined Group of Forces in Chechnya, replacing Colonel General Valery Baranov, who becomes deputy commander of the North Caucasus Military District (Lenta.ru, October 5).

On the night of October 7-8, an estimated 100 separatist fighters attacked the Chechen town of Achkoi-Martan, blockading the local pro-Moscow police station, procuracy office and military recruitment center. After several hours of firing from automatic weapons and grenade launchers, the separatists quit the town. According to Gazeta.ru, elite SOBR troops from the Ministry of Interior stood by and observed these actions without interfering and also permitted the separatists to leave the town unhindered (Gazeta.ru, October 8).