21.   Like many Chechen villages, it was bombed by Russian airplanes during the fighting that started in December, but it has been quiet for several months.

22.   Russian airplanes Wednesday bombarded the centre of Grozny and ground forces launched a massive attack on defensive positions around the capital of the breakaway republic of Chechnya.

23.   Russian airplanes bombarded rebel Chechen positions in the south of the war-torn republic Sunday, a spokesman at Russian military command said.

24.   Spanish customs seized one million packets of cigarettes smuggled into the country on a Russian airplane via the northern Vitoria airport, finance minister Juan Costa said Tuesday.

25.   The battle was fought out under an apocalyptic sky, black with oil smoke from vast storage containers around the city repeatedly bombed by Russian airplanes.