text: Russian troops start pullout , but not in Grozny . SHATOI , Russia 1996-08-25 Russian troops began to pull out from southern Chechnya on Sunday under a ceasefire agreement between Russian security chief Alexander Lebed and rebel leaders . But in the capital Grozny , the commander of Russian Interior Ministry forces in Chechnya , General Anatoly Shkirko , told Interfax news agency he was delaying a pullout of troops there after a group of Chechens disarmed an armoured column . Reuters cameraman Liutauras Stremaitis said a column of around 40 vehicles , including tanks , armoured personnel carriers , artillery cannons and lorries , escorted by Chechen rebels , pulled out of the village of Shatoi towards the border , around 50 km ( 31 miles ) to the north . In Grozny , Shkirko told Interfax he was suspending the pullout of troops from the capital until weapons seized by the Chechens were returned . Chechen rebel spokesman Movladi Udugov confirmed the weapons had been seized but that it was a maverick group of Chechens . He said later that the rebels had handed them over . The pullout of the Russian troops is a key element of the peace plan brokered by Lebed , which aims to end the 20-month Chechnya conflict .