1.   But Aslan Maskhadov, the leader of the separatist region, was unhurt.

2.   But when their commanders ordered them back to the war-wrecked separatist region last month, Nevzorov and his men refused to go.

3.   Clinton acknowledged that he had raised the war in the separatist region of Chechnya with Yeltsin.

4.   Monday, Russian federal troops and Chechen forces were locked in heavy fighting north of Grozny, the capital of the separatist region.

5.   On Sunday, Putin said Russian troops intended to expand the security zone they were setting up in the north of the separatist region.

6.   Pressure from Russia came in the form of visa requirements for Georgian citizens entering Russia - regulations not extended, in fact, to the separatist regions of Georgia.

7.   Refugees trudged through snowy streets in Grozny, Russia, fleeing because of fears that Moscow would invade the separatist region.

8.   Russia vowed Sunday night to punish the separatist Chechnya region unless Chechen kidnappers quickly released a high-ranking Russian officer.

9.   Those calls have heated up since Russia invaded the separatist region of Chechnya last December and sent large numbers of tanks and other heavy equipment into that region.

10.   A car bomb exploded Sunday near Chechnya, killing two Russian police officers who were serving in the separatist region, police said.