As you might recall from the previous modules, when 15 Soviet republics declared independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, Boris Yeltsin was a strong supporter of the USSR dissolution. Why was Yeltsin so strongly opposed to Chechen's independence movement? (more than one answer might be correct).

• Unlike Ukraine, Lithuania, and other republics, Chechnya was NOT an independent entity within the Soviet Union. Chechnya was always a part of the Republic of Russia, hence it did not a right under the Soviet Constitution to secede
• Yeltsin feared that, should Chechnya secede, other ethnic groups inside Russia (e.g. Tatars) would secede from the Russian Federation
• Chechnya is a major chokepoint in Russia's oil infrastructure (not only is Chechnya rich in oil, it also has several important refineries). Hence Russia's economy depended on Chechnya