Background: Chechnya

A memorial for victims of armed conflict in Grozny, the Chechen capital. Photo: C.J. Chivers, 2008.

C.J. Chivers, New York Times reporter and author of THE GUN, a social history of the AK-47, co-wrote this "primer on the land from which the Tsarnaev family hailed."

As the NYT piece notes, current Chechen leader Ramzan A. Kadyrov wrote on Instagram (!) that any ties between the Boston bombing suspects and Chechnya were mistaken: "The roots of this evil are to be found in America."