Åsne Seierstad first visited Chechnya in 1994 (aged just 24) during the First Chechen War. In 2006, she returned to the region to examine its progress. In the intervening period, Chechnya had been ravaged by a second civil war after disputed elections were won by Russian-backed Akhmad Kadyrov. During this conflict Russian control of the province was re-established, a process which caused enormous loss of life and widespread destruction of buildings and infrastructure. In 2003, the United Nations described the Chechen capital Grozny as the most destroyed city in the world.