Word: russianizing
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...federal forces and retreated all the way to Grozny. But some of their men simply went underground, waiting for the right moment, and that moment came last weekend when they struck in a coordinated attack that has embarrassed Russia." For weeks the Chechens had been harassing the Russians forces behind their own lines at night. Then, realizing the disarray at the top of the Russian chain of command signaled by last Friday's temporary suspension of the assault on Grozny, the Chechens on Saturday broke through Russian lines and seized a number of towns and villages near Grozny occupied...
...breakout from Grozny, the territory's capital, which Moscow has failed to capture despite the pre-Christmas bravado, infuriated Russia's generals and alarmed the Russian public. The tenor of media reports, which had for the most part been bullish on the war, suddenly began to shift, and Russians began invoking memories of the last war. "There's a palpable shift in attitude from the beginning of the campaign," says Meier. "They swept across the northern plain with the wind at their backs and were boasting of a quick and easy victory. But three months later, the bravado is gone...
...falloff in Russian confidence may have been inevitable, since the early successes of the war came in the absence of much Chechen resistance. That allowed Moscow to project the idea of a "clean" war in which Russian casualties are kept to a minimum and the militants are routed by cannon and air power. "But in the end, Putin faces the same problems as his predecessors in the last war," says Meier. "You can pursue the strategy of bombing and shelling from a distance only so far. It hasn't worked in Grozny." It's now clear that the capital...
...mess has heightened the infighting among the Russian military command. The army blamed the troops of its traditional rival, the Interior Ministry, for the lapses that led to last weekend's Chechen successes. That, together with a cacophony of mixed signals from the Kremlin over how to conduct the campaign, will further sap the already diminished morale of the Russian forces. And Russia's economic woes continue to have an impact on the situation. Says Meier, "There are still stories appearing in the media every week of Russian officers in Chechnya selling weapons to the enemy...
...United States alone spent $100 billion to remedy the Y2K problem, some of which was used to promote readiness in other parts of the world. The Pentagon's efforts to ensure safety in the Russian nuclear arsenal were especially welcome. The efforts of the government and the private sector resulted in massive overhauls and scrutiny of existing computer systems to guarantee that the year 2000 would not wreak havoc upon the world...