Russia seizes Chechnya's second-largest city!!!Russian troops, backed by tanks and artillery, moved into the key city of Gudermes on Friday. "The Russian flag has been raised over the town (Gudermes)," Russian news agencies quoted Putin as saying.Chechen officials did not say if their forces were resisting the Russian advance at Gudermes, but admitted some of their fighters have been pulling back. The loss of the city would represent a major setback for the Chechen government, which has been fighting to hold the city for several weeks.Russian forces continued to bomb and rocket towns across Chechnya on Friday, with Grozny suffering heavy air and artillery strikes.Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov appealed to Moscow for talks to end the fighting, but the Russian government rejected the call and said the fighting would continue as long as necessary.Russia says its Chechnya campaign is aimed at liquidating the Islamic rebels. But Russia increasingly appears determined to regain full control of the republic.RUSSIAN TROOPS TAKE CHECHEN VILLAGERussian forces occupied a village inside Chechnya suspected of harboring Chechen guerrillas on Saturday, as thousands of civilians continued to flee raids by Russian warplanes in the breakaway republic.Russian troops were in the village of Borozdinovka, located two miles (3 km) inside Chechnya, according to Abdul Magomedov, a spokesman for the Dagestani Interior Ministry.The village was pounded by Russian artillery from neighboring Dagestan Saturday, and the troops entered the village unhindered, Magomedov said.About 50,000 Russian soldiers were deployed on the border with Chechnya, and Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev said Russian forces had set up a security zone.Valery Manilov, the army's first deputy chief of staff, said the security zone would give Russia "systemic control of all and everything that crosses in and out of Chechnya," ITAR- Tass reported. He also said Russian artillery and aircraft were striking suspected guerrilla positions.Russia's air force claims it has carried out more than 350 raids on Chechnya in the past two weeks.Russia began air raids on Chechnya after Muslim militants based in the territory invaded neighboring Dagestan, seeking to create an Islamic state in southern Russia.