"This is not my data but a quote from a serious and reputable work done by the Russian military, titled: “ANALYSIS OF COMBAT EMPLOYMENT OF RECONESSANCE TROOPS IN THE CHECHANIAN CONFLICT”. " ==> out of curiousity, why do you attribute this book to the Russian military? I know where you found it:
http://www.vrazvedka.ru/main/learning/last-confl/analitical-01.shtml Based on the information provided there, I can't even establish who the publisher is.
"In other words it should read:
Just on the new year’s day (that is the first day of the assault) the Federal army lost a total of 1,500 soldiers killed, wounded and missing." ==> now you're simply fantasizing. The source specifically states "1,500 killed or missing". Two possibilities: either the information pertaining to casualties provided by the sources is totally incorrect; or the bulk of 1,500 casualties was made up of missing soldiers, who were later found. Just as it was with the losses of the Maikop Brigade, which initially reported over 200 missing, but whose final count of losses amounted to only 70 odd killed.