Russia's President Yeltsin appeared to be gambling his political future by sending in federal troops to storm the Chechen capital. Most political analysts would agree, however, that Yeltsin's choices were limited. Most of the southern half of the state is situated in the mountains and is rough and rugged, while the northern half contains a rolling to flat terrain.
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A major oil pipeline runs along the north side of the Caucasus, carrying oil northwestward from oil fields in Baku on the Caspian Sea and Chechnya toward The Ukraine. Grozny is the site of a major oil refinery along this pipeline. Chechnya is one of the Russian Federation's 23 internal republics, according to political geographer and ABC commentator Harm J. de Blij. Chechnya and six other small, turbulent, and culturally distinctive Russian republics lie along the north slope of the Caucasus. Chechnya has a history of political tur-moil.