The bodies of two Russian soldiers have been found at a Grozny marketplace, according to the federal commander in the Chechen capital, quoted by Interfax.
He said the two men had been shot several times in the back.
Several more federal troops were injured Friday in a rebel grenade attack in the Khankala neighborhood of Grozny, a Russian officer said via ITAR-TASS.
Russian forces responded, killing two Chechen separatist rebels, said the same officer, who was part of the ambushed convoy.
Russian General Ibragim Suleimenov meanwhile reported that a mine boosted with TNT was discovered in a popular market-place in the town of Achkhoi-Martan, 30 kilometres (18 miles) southwest of Grozny.
The device did not explode, he said.
And around 140 kilogrammes (308 pounds) of explosives were found along a road regularly used by federal convoys near the southern Chechen town of Shatoi, Interfax reported.
The Russian interior ministry said Saturday via ITAR-TASS that security measures in the breakaway republic had been tightened for festivities due to mark the end of the Muslim festival of Ramadan.
Federal forces were trying to surround and isolate Grozny by December 25, military sources said.
Meanwhile, a delegation of Russian deputies led by former liberal minister Boris Nemtsov left Moscow for the neighboring republic of Ingushetia, carrying humanitarian aid for Chechen refugees who have fled there -- MOSCOW (AFP)
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