MOSCOW — Russian troops searched Thursday for 33 soldiers missing after rebels ambushed their convoy deep in Chechnya's mountains, the Kremlin's spokesman on the Chechnya war said.
At least three servicemen were killed in the attack Wednesday near the southern village of Zhani-Vedeno, Sergei Yastrzhembsky told the Interfax news agency. Search teams found the other 16 soldiers in the convoy alive Thursday.
"The area is blocked by a paratrooper battalion and Interior Ministry troops. A intelligence operation and search for the (soldiers) and the attackers is under way," Yastrzhembsky said.
The ambush illustrated how vulnerable Russian troops still are to rebel attacks, even though the Chechens are outgunned and outmanned and the Russians claim to control most of Chechnya.
Soon after the convoy was ambushed on a rugged mountain road, another, larger convoy set out to rescue it — and also came under fire. Fighting raged for hours.
"The rebels were waiting for them," Yastrzhembsky said. Of the 107 troops in the second convoy, 20 were hospitalized, and the others escaped unharmed, Interfax said.
First Deputy Interior Minister Ivan Golubev and top commanders were dispatched to the area to supervise the search for the missing men, Yastrzhembsky said.
Golubev said troops had blockaded a large group of rebels near Zhani-Vedeno who were led by field commander Ruslan Gelayev.
Despite the rebel attacks, Interior Minister Vladimir Rushailo insisted Thursday that Russia was not losing control of the situation in Chechnya.
"The situation in the republic is not simple and requires constant attention and corrections in the federal forces' efforts," Rushailo told Interfax after returning to Moscow from a trip to Chechnya. "But it is being fully controlled, including in the southern districts, despite continuing sorties of the surviving rebel formations."
Russian ground forces that entered Chechnya in September have driven most rebels out of the flatlands and into the rugged mountains that make up the republic's southern third. The rebels are skilled guerrilla fighters who use the rough terrain to their advantage, while Russia struggles to move its heavy equipment.
President Vladimir Putin has vowed that Russia won't back off in Chechnya until the rebels are wiped out, but despite seven months of intense bombing, shelling and ground battles, Russia has been unable to crush the militants.
Russia sent ground troops into Chechnya after Chechnya-based rebels invaded neighboring Dagestan last summer. The rebels also have been blamed in the apartment bombings that killed 300 people in Russia in September.