European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 11, 1995, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Russian army Falls Flat critics ask what happened to former superpower a chechen fighter celebrates in front of stain russian soldiers and a destroyed infantry vehicle in Grozny As the rebels again frustrate the army of a one time superpower. Byle Hockstader the Washington Post s the russian army the gang that could t shoot straight that s the unavoidable question being asked in Moscow following the humiliating developments in Grozny last week. A new year s attack on the chechen capital failed spectacularly leaving hundreds of russian troops dead and wounded a a and the City still in the hands of ragtag rebels with More guts than guns. To be sure the chechen Are legend Rily Tough fighters a Well armed dangerous and perfectly willing to die for their  enjoy High morale and the tactical advantages inherent in defending a City. But russian blunders and bungling a in preparation tactics personnel and strategy a Are at least As much to blame for Moscow s bloody nose military analysts say. They predict that Given russian planning to Date which seems More suicidal than strategic much More blood May be spilled before russian troops take full control of the wrecked City. Quot could this really be the same army that the West. Looked at with such fear for 40 years Quot Pavel Felgenhauer military editor of the newspaper a Evodna wrote in the Moscow times last week. For Many Western military specialists a but not All a the failure of the russian r assault came As a Shock. Having spent their careers planning How to fight the mighty russian Bear on the european Mainland some experts were left open mouthed when the Kremlin s troops proved incapable of taking a Republic whose land mass is slightly larger than that of the Bahamas. / one can t believe that anyone would have gone ahead with things the Way they did unless they had no alternatives said Andrew Duncan senior military analyst at the International Institute for strategic studies in London. Quot the most stupid thing was to drive through the Center of Grozny with armoured vehicles expecting to capture the presidential Palace in the Middle of the City. People it Don t like driving tanks Down the streets unless they know their own soldiers Are in the houses on either Side. It s a very dangerous  so the russian troops discovered. In a Surprise attack new year s eve russian armoured columns thrust into the City following a murderous artillery and Aerial barrage. Pavel Grachev a  for the Palace downtown where chechen Leader a Khokhar Dunayev was believed to be holed up As Well As the railway station and other key Points around the City. But the attempt to storm Grozny using t-72 tanks and tracked and wheeled armoured personnel carriers was ill conceived from the Start a typically so say some analysts who have studied the russian military. Quot their tactics were absolutely atrocious Quot said Bernard Trainor director of the National Security program at Harvard University s Kennedy school of government. Quot the same sort of thing they did in Afghanistan they re doing in Croze in sticking with an armoured mentality staying on the Road not getting out of their vehicles. It s the worst Way to go about . Trainor a retired . Marine corps general who runs an annual two week seminar at Harvard for senior russian military officers added Quot they re still operating off their recipe Book for fighting the nato forces massive armoured units plunging headlong without regard for opportunities or unexpected reverses. That s the Way they trained for nato. So when 18 the stars and stripes wed Eschal