MOSCOW, Aug 22: Nine Russian soldiers were killed near the Chechen capital of Grozny on Thursday when a remote-controlled bomb exploded close to their vehicle.

The bomb was hidden inside a car on a side of the road and went off as a column of military vehicles drove by.

Two soldiers were also wounded in the attack.

In another development, Chechen fighters engaged Russian troops in a deadly battle near the southeastern town of Avtury over two days. But Russian officials on Friday claimed the battle had subsided.

“Right now the action has practically entered its final stage,” Colonel Ilya Shabalkin told Interfax.

At least 25 people, including Chechens, Russian troops and a local politician, were killed over the two days after federal troops began an operation to flush out guerillas from the town.

Chechen fighters have stepped up attacks in the run-up to presidential elections, due to take place in the war-ravaged republic on Oct 5.

The elections come four years after Russian troops poured into the southern Caucasus republic to put down what the Kremlin said was a separatist insurgency.

The poll will follow a March referendum, which was shunned by international observers, had a Soviet-style turnout of 89.5 per cent and approved Chechnya’s place within the Russian Federation by a margin of 96 per cent. —AFP