Nine soldiers killed as wall collapses in Chechnya

At least nine Russian soldiers camped out in a former poultry farm near the Chechen capital were killed when a concrete wall collapsed on them during a clash with Chechen rebels, military officials said today.

The rebel attack – shortly before the expiry of a temporary ceasefire by militants – heightened tensions in Chechnya.

The ceasefire, announced by Chechen rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov, was timed to run out before Wednesday’s anniversary of the brutal Stalin-era deportation of Chechens to the barren steppes of Central Asia.

Major General Sergei Surovikin, commander of the 42nd motorised infantry division, said the wall collapsed on Monday night after a direct hit from a grenade launcher.

He said about nine soldiers were killed but the exact number was not yet clear. The farm in Prigorodnoye, four miles south of Grozny, was being used as a temporary barracks by the troops.

The command centre for the federal forces in Chechnya said later that the wall had apparently been brought down by a hand grenade tossed by one of the rebels.

In addition to the nine dead, three soldiers were wounded.

One agency report said Chechen police considered the wall collapse an accident.

Surovikin said that five to six rebels were involved in the attack. He said two were killed and one severely wounded.