In his annual state-of-the-nation address to the Federal Assembly broadcast live on Russian television on 18 April, President Vladimir Putin said that "the military phase [in Chechnya] is over thanks to the bravery of the army and special task forces. A year ago, we were counting how many there were fighting against us, how many rebels, how many terrorists: 2,000, 3,000, 5,000, 10,000. Today it's not important to us how many there are, what matters is where they are." He added that there are many social and economic issues that need to be solved in Chechnya, and that while "bandit outings" threaten peaceful life there, those actions should not be cause for infringing on the rights of the entire Chechen population. "Every inhabitant of Chechnya should consider himself a full-fledged citizen of Russia," the president said. (ITAR-TASS)