31.   Historians believe there was little military-strategic justification for wreaking such death and destruction on the city, which was filled with refugees fleeing the Russian advance.

32.   Heavy gunfire resounded early Thursday in Grozny, following recent Russian advances into the south of the Chechen capital.

33.   However he continued to launch ever riskier guerrilla incursions into Grozny despite Russian advances which eventually forced the rebels into the mountains.

34.   However, there were no Russian advances on the ground in the Bamut area, the Chechen official said.

35.   - Talks begin at Vladikavakaz in North Ossetia as the Russian advance moves more slowly than planned.

36.   An official Russian delegation to Chechnya early Tuesday appealed to President Boris Yeltsin to call off a Russian military advance on the Chechen capital Grozny.

37.   As each town and village in breakaway Chechnya struggles to survive an unrelenting Russian advance, a grass-roots brand of democracy is flourishing.

38.   But Chechen defense officials, cited by Interfax news agency, said their forces had turned back a Russian armoured advance on the village.

39.   Civilians were also fleeing the Russian advance designed to cut off from the rear the last rebel positions in Grozny.

40.   Civilians were fleeing the Russian advance designed to cut off from the rear the last rebel positions in Grozny.