Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived in Chechnya for an unannounced surprise visit to discuss the financing of federal forces in the region.
The pro-Russiangovernment says the war to subdue rebels is winding down despite daily casualties among Russian troops.
Putin visited the site where 84 Russian troops were wiped out in an ambush by Chechen rebels in March 2000, state-run RTR television said.
Mr Putin laid flowers at the scene of the battle, knownas Hill 776.
He then inspected a special forces unit near the town of Khatuni and moved on to a meeting withofficials at the federal base at Khankala east of the capital Grozny.
MrPutin said he was there to discuss the financing of federal forces in the region. "In fact one of the problems which we plan to deal with today is precisely financing, material support and the exact payment of combat pay," he said on RTR.
Some of the soldiers who signed up for Chechnya on a contract basis have complained theydid not get paid.
Mr Putin has made trips to Chechnya before - one of them in the back seat of a Su-27 jet fighter during last year's presidential election campaign.
He gained much of his popularity from his "firm"handling of the Chenchen war which remains popular despite steady casualties and reported human rights abuses by Russian troops.
He later returned safely to Moscow, but Russia's tenuous grip on the security situation in Chechnya was underscored when unidentified gunmen shot dead Grozny's deputy public prosecutor.
The official was killed on his way back from a city suburb where three Russian women were murdered on Saturday morning.
State media quickly proclaimed Putin's Chechnya visit the main news of the day, pushing off the top news spot the overnight takeover of Russia's only non-state television network, NTV, by managers from the state-dominated gas monopoly.
Meanwhile rebels took credit for the death on Thursday of Adam Deniyev, the deputy head of the pro-Russian Chechen civilian administration. Mr Deniyev was killed by an explosion as he taped a television broadcast in his home village of Avtury.
AP
