December 3, 1999
Web posted at: 6:38 AM EST (1138 GMT)

SERNOVODSK, Russia -- Up to 250 Russian soldiers were killed early Friday when their unit was surrounded and overrun by Chechen insurgents in heavy fighting, according to an official.

Ali Dudarov, deputy interior minister of the republic of Ingushetia, said that Russian officers told him that the unit was attacked near the Chechen town of Urus-Martan, 12 miles southwest of the capital Grozny.

He said some 200 soldiers were killed in the attack and 50 more who had been taken prisoner were executed by having their throats slit.

Russian officials closed the border crossing from Chechnya to Ingushetia on Friday, saying power supply problems made it difficult to check refugees' documents. The border point is the main exit out of Chechnya.

But Dudarov said officers at the border told him the real reason for the border closing was the destruction of the Russian unit. If true, the incident would be the biggest loss suffered so far by the Russian military in the current campaign and a major setback for the Russian forces.

The Russian government declined to comment on the report.

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