Czech Ambassador Issues Statement To End Confusion Between Czech Republic And Chechnya

The Boston bombing suspects, brothers Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev, are from a region of Russia known as Chechnya.

Some in the social media world have confused this republic with the similar sounding Czech Republic, which is actually some 2,000 miles away in Central Europe.

The Czech ambassador to the United States has issued a statement to clear up any confusion between the Czech Republic and Chechnya.

"The Czech Republic is a Central European country; Chechnya is a part of the Russian Federation," Petr Gandalovic writes.

Read Gandalovic's full statement below:

As many I was deeply shocked by the tragedy that occurred in Boston earlier this month. It was a stark reminder of the fact that any of us could be a victim of senseless violence anywhere at any moment.

As more information on the origin of the alleged perpetrators is coming to light, I am concerned to note in the social media a most unfortunate misunderstanding in this respect. The Czech Republic and Chechnya are two very different entities - the Czech Republic is a Central European country; Chechnya is a part of the Russian Federation.

As the President of the Czech Republic Miloš Zeman noted in his message to President Obama, the Czech Republic is an active and reliable partner of the United States in the fight against terrorism. We are determined to stand side by side with our allies in this respect, there is no doubt about that.

Petr Gandalovic

Ambassador of the Czech Republic

Here's a map, where the Czech republic is denoted by the blue bubble and Chechnya by the red.