Saturday, February 21, 2004; The Washington Post Page A16

U.S. Reporter's Russian Driver Missing After Trip to Chechnya

MOSCOW -- A Russian working for a U.S. journalist in Chechnya was detained last week by men representing themselves as government authorities in possible retaliation for helping the correspondent report on the long-running war there.

Rebecca Santana, the Moscow correspondent for Cox Newspapers, said her driver, Ruslan Soltakhanov, was seized at his home in Mozdok, near Chechnya, on Feb. 13, two days after returning with her from a trip to the republic.

The men who took him were not wearing uniforms and did not identify themselves, Santana said, citing an account by the driver's wife. The driver, Ruslan Soltakhanov, has not been seen since.

"Going after somebody like Ruslan is an attempt to punish him for working with foreign journalists and serve as a warning to others not to do it," Santana said.

Russian authorities officially bar foreign correspondents from traveling to Chechnya without government escorts, although journalists often go without permission to try to get a more candid view of the situation in the war-torn republic.

Santana traveled to Chechnya from Feb. 8 to 11 without government escorts, but her trip came to the attention of Russian officials when a miscommunication led to reports that she was missing.Her office contacted the U.S. Embassy, which filed a missing person's report with the Russian government.

-- Peter Baker