RUSSIA'S MY LAI?

Before he boarded Air Force One, Clinton said he was "very deeply disturbed" over reports thatRussian soldiershad slaughtered more than 100 women, children and elderly civilians in a Chechen village last month. The Russian Parliament is now investigating the events of Apr. 7-10, when soldiers reportedly stormed into Samashki, 20 miles west of Grozny, torching buildings, tossing grenades into the basements where frightened residents were hiding, and shooting unarmed residents at random. "TheRussian army was thrown into this combatfor which they were not prepared," says TIME Moscow correspondent Terence Nelan. "The soldiers are angry and frustrated, and all the Chechen fighters are hiding in the hills. So they lash out at the people they can find, the civilians." The military, which blocked international observers for three days, claims it encountered armed resistance.