Moscow, April 18 (RFE/RL) - Russian officials say 53 of their servicemen were killed on Tuesday in an ambush by Chechen fighters, rather than 26 as had been reported earlier.
A Russian military spokesman in Chechnya told Interfax news agency that another 52 servicemen had been wounded in the attack on a Russian military convoy in southern Chechnya. There is no independent confirmation of the report.
The Russian military command in Chechnya said about 170 Chechen fighters under the command of Chechen separatist field commander Ruslan Gelayev carried out the attack.
The command also reported that 8 armored vehicles and 14 cars were destroyed in the ambush.