Sergei Surovikin, commander of the 42nd Motorized Division deployed in Chechnya, said that bandit groups were regrouping in the mountains. Their leaders, Basayev and Umarov, are trying to reactivate contacts with even the smallest groups to maintain their influence in the mountainous areas of Chechnya, he said. The bandits maintain radio silence, and keep up contacts mostly through couriers. According to Surovikin, the terrorists believe that they must triumph in 2005 or lose their influence altogether.
Chechnya's chief prosecutor, Vladimir Kravchenko, issued a similar warning last week. He said the militants had planned several big terrorist attacks for June-August in Operation Fiery Summer.
Alexander Chernogorov, the governor of the Stavropol territory, said yesterday that terrorist attacks in Russia were possible during the May 1-9 celebrations, and the territorial authorities were doing their best to prevent bloodshed.
Last year's May Day celebrations were marred when Chechnya's president, Akhmad Kadyrov, was killed in a terrorist attack on a Grozny stadium. This year, law enforcers are doing their best to prevent a repetition of the tragedy. According to the order of the republic's interior minister, the local staff (over 15,000) will be put on enhanced alert in the next few days, said Ruslan Atsayev, chief spokesman of the Chechen Interior Ministry. Extra measures will be taken to protect crucial economic facilities, state establishments, administrative buildings, and schools.
Vice-Premier of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov, a son of the late president, promised to name the murderer of his father by May 9.
