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Grozny or Groznyy[both: grOz´nE] Pronunciation Key, city (2001 est. pop. 100,000), capital of Chechnya, SE European Russia, in the northern foothills of the Greater Caucasus. One of Russia's oldest oil-producing areas (production began in 1893), Grozny was a major strategic goal of invading German armies in World War II. Soviet troops halted the German advance just short of the city. Fighting between the Russian army and Chechen separatists devastated the city in the mid-1990s and again in 1999, and the resulting bloodshed, destruction, and lawlessness led roughly three quarters of the residents to flee.
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