MOSCOW, Dec 11: The war in Chechnya marks its first anniversary Monday with little fanfare, no glory, tens of thousands dead and slim chances of reaching peace in the tiny Caucasus republic where rebels fight for independence, reports AP.

Dally casualties have taken a back seat to Russia's parliamentary elections, less than a week away. Campaigning politicians focus more on the troubled economy than the ongoing war.

Television broadcasts and newspapers noted the anniversary but gave more attention to the election. The public Is preoccupied with the hardships of dally life. Even demonstrations in Moscow

and St. Petersburg marking he anniversary drew only a dozen mothers of soldiers.

But some haven't forgotten the horror and pain of the war that started when Russian soldiers marched Into Chechnya to fight rebels determined to secede. Since then, an estimated 20.000 people have been killed, most of them civilians.

The popular dally newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets printed a front-page photograph of the remains of a Russian tank crewman whose body was hung on display in the Chechen capital Grozny and eaten by dogs.

The readers' letters section of the daily Komsomolskaya

Pravda Included one from a woman whose son has been missing in Chechnya since Feb. 18: Where are you, my son? Please, tell us. We are waiting for you and we love you very much."

Another letter in the same newspaper was from a Russian lieutenant colonel who recalled telling a woman her son had seen killed: "Forgive us all on this planet, the mothers whose sons we failed to save. If a wife loses her husband, she is called a widow. But what of the mother who loses her son?"

On Dec. 11. 1994, about 40.000 Russian, troops poured into Chechnya to quell the tiny southern republic's

separatist drive and put an end to the three-year rule of independence-minded President Dzhokhar Dudayev.

Negotiations to end the war began after Chechen rebels took about 2,000 people hostage in the southern Russian town of Budyonnovsk in June. Talka in Grozny produced a July military agreement that spokes of rebel disarmament and partial Russian pullout, to be followed by elections and negotiations on Chechnya's political Matus.

The agreement collapsed without being Implemented

Russian troops control the northern two-thirds of Chechnya, but a group of rebels continues to operate from the southern third. Recent

months have seen peace negotiations break down, guerrilla attacks Increase in Grozny and Moscow attempt to force elections on Chechnya.

Federal authorities and their Chechen allies have bolstered security across the republic to prepare for the vote, set for Dec 17 to coincide with Russia's legislative elec tions The three contestants in the race include the Kremlin-backed premier. Doku Zav-gayev

But a leading candidate withdrew from the race Satur day. Former Russian parliament speaker and ethnic Chechen Ruslan Khasbiilatov said the vote could only aggravate tensions in Chechnya.

dividing it into rebel — and Moscow-held areas and causing new violence.

Dudayev's separatists rebels have threatened to disrupt the elections They say no vote can take place until Rus sian troops leave.

And every day. the fighting continues.

On Sunday, alone, the Russian, military command reported 18 attacks on its positions In Grozny and elsewhere. A military helicopter flying over Grozny came under submachinegun fire. A powerful bomb was found inside a downtown building.

Only one thing made the day unusual: no reports of casualties.