MOSCOW (IPS)�When NATO stepped up its bombing campaign against civilian targets in Yugoslavia earlier this year, Russia described the action as "barbarous," but learned lessons now being applied in Chechnya.

Not only a military lesson was learned�daily air strikes to wear down the enemy�but also a public relations one, to look effective, cool, professional and make failures look like part of the strategy.

In Chechnya, the air attacks are meant to tackle the issue of threats from Islamic militants, much as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization air raids were supposed to protect the Kosovo ethnic Albanians from Serbian atrocities.

On the internal political front, tough language backed by tough actions seem to be getting public approval, as it brings back pride to an impoverished and humiliated superpower.

Moscow accuses Chechnya of providing a safe haven for Islamic extremists, presumably involved in a series of bomb attacks against apartment blocks in Moscow and other Russian cities in which some 300 people died.

Russian top brass, led by Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev, announced that the air strikes will continue. In yet another parallel with their western counterparts, the Russian generals even announced in advance the number of strikes to be carried out during the day�50.

Russian jets are hitting industrial targets in the northern and southern suburbs of Grozny, notably make-shift oil refineries. The oil installations, which burst into flames, are believed to be controlled by Chechen warlords.

The Russian government argues that oil revenues were siphoned to fund Chechen militants. The latter were also accused of stealing some 120,000 tons of crude oil from the pipeline between Azerbaijan and the Black Sea.

Air strikes also hit the Chechen television station and the mobile telephone network�considered by the Russian military as an enemy propaganda machine and communication network.

Air Force chief Anatoly Kornukov vowed that the air raids are going to continue until all terrorists� bases are destroyed. He said the Russian jets are carrying out precision strikes that spare civilian areas�proudly exhibiting satellite photos just like NATO generals did every day just a few a months ago.

The latest air strikes have forced thousands of Chechens to flee to neighboring regions, especially Ingushetia. By Sept. 27, the number of refugees fleeing from Chechnya reached 50,000, according to Russia�s Federal Migration Service.

The authorities of Ingushetia already said they faced "a humanitarian disaster" and requested urgent aid from the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR).

Russian border guards are engaged in setting up a "sanitary cordon" between Chechnya and the rest of Russia, Konstantin Totsky, head of Federal Border Guard Service said Sept. 27, after meeting with president Boris Yeltsin.

According to Mr. Totsky, President Yeltsin ordered him to stop terrorist infiltration from "some foreign countries."

Chechnya�s President Aslan Maskhadov, who Moscow believes has lost control over the militants, has called for an urgent meeting with President Yeltsin. But Russia�s prime minister said that the meeting would take place when the time is "good for Russia."

Mr. Sergeyev said Russia might resort to a land invasion of Chechnya, instantly reviving memories of the disastrous 1994-96 military campaign against Chechen separatists in which tens of thousands of people, mostly civilians, died.

However, according to one scenario, the military operation could last up to 18 months.

One Moscow daily even called for an ultimatum to Chechnya�either they stop terrorist attacks in Russia or face annihilation with air raids, bacterial weapons, "nerve gas, napalm, everything that the once mighty Soviet army used to have." Some experts were said to be discussing in all seriousness the question of using nuclear weapons in Chechnya.

Analysts argue that the latest tactics of the Russian military were obviously inspired by the NATO action against Yugoslavia. But calls "to bomb Chechnya into a parking lot" are also reminiscent of U.S. general Courtis Le May�s call to bomb Vietnam back into the stone age.