1.   The main aim of the rebel attacks in recent days was to blast an escape route through the Russian blockade of the city.

2.   The militants have made numerous attempts to break the Russian blockade of the city, and they have also had their share of casualties.

3.   The Texaco deal coincides with a weakening of the Russian blockade.

4.   Yet five years after the European investors began negotiating for Karachaganak, the project has been all but crippled by a Russian blockade.

5.   A large contingent of Chechen fighters have abandoned positions in their embattled capital of Grozny and escaped despite a Russian blockade.

6.   In the village of Petropavlovskaya, about six miles north of Grozny, there was little sign of a promised Russian blockade.

7.   Several hundred Chechen fighters have abandoned positions in their embattled capital of Grozny and escaped despite a Russian blockade.

8.   The Chechens are among the best traders in the Caucasus region, borne of necessity from the Russian economic blockade imposed on the rebel republic before the conflict began.

9.   The Abkhazians claim the Russian blockade, popular with Georgians, was imposed at the behest of Georgian leader Eduard Shevardnadze, the former Soviet foreign minister.

10.   The airport in Grozny is being closed because a de facto Russian blockade has cut off all but one commercial flight, to Moscow.