Sir, - Russia might argue that it has legitimate reasons for conducting a war against Chechnya. They talk of bandits and criminals and terrorists and such like. The chances are that there is a lot more to this conflict than any of us know about at present but as usual in modern wars the ones who suffer most are the unarmed civilians.
The artillery barrages on the civilian population of Grozny is hardly the act of civilised people fighting terrorism, but rather more like the vengeful act of a nation which suffered a bloody nose the last time it came into contact with Chechen forces.
The blocking of the flight of thousands of refugees from the conflict is an outrage. These people present no threat to the Russian army and should be allowed to seek safety.
Perhaps it is time those who are giving financial aid to Russia thought about suspending it. Moscow may have huge economic problems but it seems to have no difficulty financing a war. Human rights must be placed high on the agenda and a peaceful resolution to the conflict brought about speedily. - Yours, etc.,
Terry Butler, East Wall, Dublin 3.