Acting President Vladimir Putin faced his toughest test yet after rebel raids that dealt Russian forces their worst setback in nearly four months of fighting in breakaway Chechnya.
Russian troops were still battling Muslim rebels who raided Russian-held towns over the weekend while the military promised tougher security measures to prevent more such attacks.
Moscow's media, once supportive, have voiced fears that the war is following the course of Russia's 1994-1996 defeat, when Russian forces captured the whole of Chechnya but were forced to withdraw after failing to halt guerrilla raids.
"One is left hoping that the head of state has received realistic information, and not the tales that journalists are hearing from the military," the daily Nez avisimaya Gazeta wrote.
The Chechen leader, Mr Aslan Maskhadov, said it was not too late to open peace talks before time runs out. But Russian Defence Minister Igor Sergeyev said there would be no let-up.
Meanwhile, Russian and Chechen forces yesterday exchanged the bodies of their dead soldiers in a ceremony on a Chechnya bridge shown on Russian state television.
The contingents on each side were seen swapping bodies wrapped in blankets, together with documents and medals belonging to the dead.
A Russian military commander, Gen Ivan Grudnev, was heard saying by telephone to a Chechen official: "War is war, but soldiers and Mujahideen must be buried with dignity."
The Chairman of the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs, Mr Des O'Malley, expressed his concern at the treatment of civilians in Chechnya yesterday. He said he found it disturbing that the war was going to be prolonged. He called for action by the EU, possibly including the suspension of aid to Russia.