21.   Before the Russian assault, Maskhadov met with Khamzadov and said the fighters had agreed to surrender their weapons.

22.   But Grozny residents who fled the fierce Russian assault on their city are coming home.

23.   Chechen Information Minister Movladi Udugov said hundreds of civilians had been killed in the Russian assault.

24.   Chechen fighters reinforced their positions in Samashky on Friday, bracing for a Russian assault on the rebel-controlled town that Moscow claimed to have taken days ago.

25.   During the offensive, people in village after village have been given a choice between ousting the guerrillas themselves or facing a brutal Russian assault.

26.   During the offensive, Chechen villages have been given a choice between proclaiming neutrality or facing a brutal Russian assault.

27.   Early in the day, a Russian assault had seemed imminent.

28.   Earlier, a Russian assault on the hostage-takers seemed imminent.

29.   Four days after it began, the Russian assault on the capital was in trouble.

30.   Four days after it began, the Russian assault on the capital of secessionist Chechnya was in trouble.