General admits army's crimes in Chechnya

Russia's chief military officer in Chechnya admitted yesterday that his men had committed "widespread crimes" in searching two villages last week.

In an unprecedented criticism of his own army, General Vladimir Moltenskoi told senior officers at Russia's main base in Chechnya: "Those who conducted searches in Sernovodsk and Assinovskaya did so in a lawless fashion, laying the place waste and then pretending they knew nothing about it," according to the Itar-Tass news agency.

Some 1,500 villagers were beaten and tortured, the Russian media and human rights groups reported. Many were only released after they paid bribes to soldiers.

This is the first time such a degree of official contrition has been shown by army commanders for the behaviour of troops during the present Chechen war. Given that Russia has habitually denied atrocities in the past, the Kremlin probably gave orders for apologies to be made. President Vladimir Putin may be using the incident to gain greater control over the Russian army in Chechnya.