MOSCOW, Aug 30 (AFP) - Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov on Friday warned heads would soon roll in Russian military command after confirming that a missile -- apparently fired by rebels -- had shot down a chopper killing 118 people in the worst loss of the Chechen war.

"The helicopter was shot down from an Igla missile complex" on the outskirts of the rebel capital Grozny on August 19, Ivanov told reporters.

In keeping with the official Kremlin line, Ivanov did not directly blame guerrillas for inflicting the biggest Russian loss of the 35-month-old guerrilla war.

President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly pronounced the Chechen war as over and won, and an admission that guerrillas were still organized enough to stage an attack within shooting distance of Russia's main military headquarters could prove to be an embarrassment for the Kremlin.

The rebels immediately took responsibility after the crash, which a Russian military report leaked to the press had also blamed on rebels.

But Friday, Ivanov instead lashed out at military commanders for allowing the heavily overloaded Mi-26 chopper to leave from the Mozdok base in North Ossetia for Grozny's Khankala military headquarters.

It later emerged that several civilians were also on board the craft -- against strict regulations that bar non-military personnel from travelling with the army in Chechnya.

Ivanov hinted darkly that more heads could roll over the incident, which the Russian media has compared to the August 2000 sinking of the Kursk nuclear submarine that also claimed the lives of 118 people -- the worst peace-time accident in the country's military history.

"The investigation will determine the extent to which everyone bears responsibility for this. They will not only be disciplined, but also answer criminal charges," said Ivanov.

Preparations for the flight were "sloppy, irresponsible and full of negligence," said Ivanov, who has already suspended a top general in charge of the ground troops' air transport force.

The Russian defense minister said an inquiry had concluded that the missile hit the craft's right engine, paralyzing the Mi-26's hydraulics system and prompting a fire on board.

With the hydraulics system down, survivors of the initial crash were unable to open the back door of the Mi-26 chopper while fuel leaked into the cabin, fanning the fire.

The Mi-26 fell into a minefield that Russian troops had earlier set up to protect the Khankala base from direct Chechen attacks.

Ivanov said that only 69 of the 118 bodies had been identified so far. There were 147 people on board the craft when it crashed, although regulations say the loaded chopper should only carry about 80 people.

Putin has also angrily lashed out at the military, accusing it of failing to follow through on reforms that could have prevented a helicopter crash.

But Putin, who launched the Chechnya offensive while still serving as prime minister in October 1999, has said nothing so far of the possibility that the rebels could have shot down the machine.

Analysts say the downing has brought pressure on Putin to reorganize the military's command in order to deflect criticism away from the Kremlin.

But with power struggles raging between competing Russian government clans in Moscow, Putin is seen as likely to cling to a few allies from his native Saint Petersburg.

These include both Ivanov and Nikolai Patrushev -- the Federal Security Service (FSB, ex-KGB) director who is personally overseeing the Chechen campaign -- who hail from Saint Petersburg and are thus unlikely to bear the brunt of Putin's wrath.

A poll published Friday said 44 percent of respondents supported Ivanov's military leadership while only 13 percent said defense ministry forces were responsible for failure to end the protracted conflict.

At least 4,500 Russian troops have been confirmed killed -- although observers speculate the true figure may be three times higher -- in daily skirmishes that have killed an estimated 20,000 guerrillas.

In the latest attack late Thursday, the rebels killed Sharani Akhmadov, a top official working in Russia's justice ministry office in Grozny.

Nampa-AFP