81.  Russian shelling of forward positions could be heard every few minutes.

82.  Russian troops have pulled out of forward positions, regrouping in bases near Grozny, and all fighting except for isolated shooting incidents has stopped.

83.  The first Russian units to leave Chechnya under an accord with the separatist rebels left their forward positions Tuesday, a spokesman for Russian forces said.

84.  The immediate need was for a de-escalation of tensions and that implied a withdrawal of troops from forward positions on the border.