Igor Sergeyev's remarks appeared to confirm western fears that Russia was digging in for a winter offensive in Chechnya similar to the one fought in the tiny mountain state during the brutal 1994-1996 war.

His vow to wage the offensive to the very end came less than a day after US President Bill Clinton personally urged Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to open a dialogue with Chechen leaders.

The outskirts of Grozny shook from rocket and artillery fire as Sergeyev announced that Russia "plans to liberate not only Grozny from the terrorists, but also the whole of Chechnya."

"That is the assignment that we have been issued with," he added while on a visit to Central Asia. "The assignment must be fulfilled, and we have the backing of the President."

President Boris Yeltsin cededalmost all control of the Chechen operation to Putin and Sergeyev before going on vacation last week.

Yet Yeltsin unexpectedly dashed back to Moscow on Wednesday to de-brief Putin behind closed doors on the premier's talks with Clinton and the North Caucasus operation on the whole.

No details of that meeting were released and only silent clips of Yeltsin listening to Putin appeared on Moscow's evening television news.

Putin's approval rating has soared during the Chechen ground invasion that Moscow cast as a fight against "international terrorists."

But Moscow faces tough decisions as federal forces mass outside Grozny without yet daring to storm the capital in what could be a bloody - and thus unpopular - operation.

The Chechen war is already gradually losing some of its luster at home as local media reports, despite heavy Kremlin pressure, begin to focus on the emerging humanitarian cost of the war.

Some 190,000 Chechens have fled the fighting into neighboring Russian regions that are illprepared to deal with them.

Russia's decision to all but seal off the Chechen border only complicated the situation as thousands of refugees found themselves trapped between Russian bombs and federal border patrols.