It has been a distaster. 400 dead out of 1000-1200 captives. The number of captives has been kept quiet it seems by the Russian Govt.

So far Putin has kept quiet, but that seems the norm for a Russian leader (Viz the Moscow Theatre, Kursk, etc)

The BBC said that the death toll could be higher as many many injured were taken to local hospitals which would be hard pressed to cope.

This will certainly harden the Russian respnse to the Chechen independance movement which has been very bloody. The UN have done nothing and both Blare and Bush have been very quiet on the actions Russian troops have taken in Chechnya.