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Grozny. January 1995. Food and water supplies stopped within days of the assault. Men and women searched for sustenance among exploding shells. Gaining control of Grozny did not take the Russians hours, but weeks. The Chechens were difficult to beat because they did not engage in conventional warfare. During the siege the bulk of the rebels were training south of the city; General Maskhadov knew that a large, poorly armed force could have been ring-fenced and trapped with relative ease. Most importantly, previous city surveyors and town planners were now fighters, giving the Chechen command intimate knowledge of the hidden arteries and conduits of the city?s gas and water systems. Day and night they infiltrated Russian lines with hundreds of three-man hit teams popping out of nowhere, typically two riflemen protecting a fighter with anti-tank rockets. Countless Russian armoured personnel carriers were destroyed at intersections and strategic points with huge casualties... (KEYSTONE/NOOR/Stanley Greene)