GROZNY, Russia – The Russian Defense Ministry on Friday vehemently denied media reports of growing casualties among Russian troops in Chechnya, as federal aircraft bombarded suspected rebel encampments in the southern mountains.

The Russian military has been consistently reporting light casualties, fearing a high death toll might alter the vector of support for the Russian troops' actions.

The ministry said that one soldier had been killed and 13 wounded Thursday, while 40 rebels were killed. However, Interfax, citing sources in the federal command for Chechnya, reported casualties of 33 soldiers.

Russian planes and helicopter gunships flew more than 130 combat missions Thursday. They targeted suspected rebel positions in the capital Grozny, the southern villages of Itum-Kale and Shatili, and nearby Argun and Vedeno.

The air and artillery bombardment continued Friday, NTV television reported. Ground troops were regrouping around Grozny, the Russian-controlled north and the neighboring republic of Ingushetia over the past two days, the Emergency Situations Ministry said Friday.

According to previous reports, Russian troops, battered by surprise rebel counterattacks last week, were placed on alert Thursday and dug deep trenches in vulnerable villages to fend off new attacks.

After making steady progress against Chechen rebels since ground troops entered the republic in September, the Russian offensive stalled last week. Rebels attacked towns that Russian forces claimed to control and put up fierce resistance in the Chechen capital, which the Russian forces continued shelling heavily while fighting rebels from trenches in some of the city's neighborhoods, Interfax reported, citing military sources.

Following the rebels' weekend counterattacks, all military checkpoints and stations in Russian-controlled areas of Chechnya have been placed on alert and provided with additional ammunition and armored vehicles, ITAR-TASS reported.

Russia declared that all males in Chechnya between ages 10 and 60 would be checked out for possible involvement with the rebels. As a result of that order, males of that age group are being denied entry and exit to and from Chechnya, sparking growing international criticism.

"The Russians are barbarians," said Lyoma Gibishev, a Grozny resident who was refused entry to Chechnya at a crossing point in Ingushetia. "They're demonstrating their helplessness, vulnerability and inhumanity."

New York-based Human Rights Watch protested the Russian measure, and the U.S. State Department asked Russia for clarification of the new regulation.

"It is essential that Russia respect the fundamental human rights of civilians in and around Chechnya, not endanger the lives of noncombatants, and ensure freedom of movement for displaced persons," State Department spokesman James Rubin said.

The head of Russia's Federal Migration Service, Vladimir Kalamanov, said the new restriction was justified.

"It is better to double-check than to start a bloody massacre on the territory of Chechnya and [neighboring] Ingushetia," he told reporters in Moscow on Thursday.

Russian soldiers complain that many Chechens disguise their rebel ties with ostensibly sympathetic behavior.

"They come up to us in daytime and offer cigarettes and biscuits. And at night they shoot at us," said Capt. Aleksei Samoshkin at an Interior Ministry unit based in neighboring Dagestan.

On a trip to Chechnya, Russian Interior Minister Vladimir Rushailo tried to reassure Russians that federal forces were in control of the situation.

"There are two ways of dealing with the fighters: either liquidating them or bringing them to criminal responsibility, which is what we're doing," Rushailo told reporters.

Russia sent ground troops into Chechnya in late September after weeks of airstrikes. The offensive aims at wiping out Chechnya-based rebels who twice invaded the neighboring republic of Dagestan last summer and who are blamed for apartment bombings elsewhere in Russia that killed about 300 people.