Captors Free Russian Envoy in Chechnya

MOSCOW — President Boris N. Yeltsin’s special envoy to Chechnya--who was taken hostage in May while on a mission to curb kidnappings in the region--returned Friday to Moscow after his release, saying he felt no anger toward his captors.

There was no word, however, on the whereabouts of an American missionary who was kidnapped Wednesday in the southern Russian city of Makhachkala as he left an orphanage where he had been coaching young basketball players.

Since 1996, when Chechnya won quasi-independence from Russia in a 21-month war, the republic and its border zones have been the scene of hundreds of kidnappings for ransom, presumably by former Chechen independence fighters.

In a seeming breakthrough, more than a dozen victims--including Russian soldiers who fought in the war--have been released in recent weeks, government officials say. At the same time, the release appears to have touched off a new round of kidnappings, including the abduction of Herbert Gregg, 51, the American missionary who had been living in Russia’s Dagestan region for four years.

The most high-profile victim has been Valentin Vlasov, Yeltsin’s representative to Chechnya, who was released Friday morning. He lost more than 30 pounds during his imprisonment but otherwise appeared unharmed.

Upon arriving in Moscow, Vlasov criticized Russia for not doing more to help the devastated region recover from the war.

“I bear them in Chechnya no malice for things that happened to me,” he told reporters. “We ourselves create conditions for what has happened in Chechnya and what is happening in Chechnya.”

Vlasov was reluctant to talk about the conditions of his captivity, although for a time he apparently was held with two British hostages who were released last month.

“Everything that has happened is over,” Vlasov said. “If I say it was bad, none will hear, none will listen, and nothing will be changed. The most important thing is what will happen in the future.”

Considerable mystery surrounds the recent release of hostages.

Although Vlasov’s abductors were reportedly demanding $7 million for his freedom, Russian Interior Ministry officials who negotiated the release insisted that no ransom was paid.

Chechen officials insist that his captors would not have released him without receiving payment.

Billionaire businessman Boris A. Berezovsky, nicknamed “Rasputin” because of his purported influence with Yeltsin’s family, has been actively involved in negotiating hostage releases.

Footage broadcast by the television network that Berezovsky controls has shown groups of freed hostages returning to Moscow.

Although Berezovsky has denied paying any ransom himself, he said in one interview that he had provided kidnappers with “humanitarian aid” in the form of computers.

Some Chechen officials contend that many of the hostages whom Berezovsky is credited with helping free were never held captive but are army deserters rounded up in southern Russia outside Chechnya.

Some Chechens even claim that Vlasov was captured by Russian secret services and held captive in Russia to inflame passions against Chechnya.

Russian officials deny such charges and say about 150 hostages are still being held prisoner in Chechnya.