INVESTIGATORS are focusing their inquiry into the killing of a Russian investigative reporter on former police officers linked to crimes against civilians in Chechnya, a newspaper reported yesterday.

Russian investigators are focusing their inquiry into the killing of a Russian investigative reporter on former police officers linked to crimes against civilians in Chechnya, it was today reported.

Cold weather so painful that even winter-hardened Russians complained about it has gripped Moscow and much of the rest of the country.