Date
Author
Михаил МОШКИН; Наталья ШКУРЕНОК
Source
Preserved copy
Translated material
Imperial volume
The Investigative Committee identified the children of Nicholas II
Another intermediate point has been set in the long history of the investigation into the murder of the last Russian Emperor Nicholas II and members of his family, shot by the Bolsheviks on July 17, 1918 in Yekaterinburg. The Investigative Committee under the Prosecutor General's Office (SKP), in full accordance with the Soviet tradition of “preparing for important dates,” timed the 90th anniversary of the execution in the Ipatiev House with a message that could well be called sensational. The official statement of the UPC, distributed on Wednesday, states that a study conducted by forensic experts confirmed: the remains found on July 29, 2007 in the Ganina Yama tract near the Old Koptyakovskaya road near Yekaterinburg belong to members of the family of Nicholas II - Princess Maria and Tsarevich Alexei.Let us recall that in 1991, in the area of the same road, a burial was opened in which the remains of nine people were located. Subsequently, after numerous examinations, it was stated that the bodies of Nicholas II himself, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana and Anastasia and those close to the royal family - doctor Evgeny Botkin, maid of honor Anna Demidova, servant Aloysius Troupe and cook Ivan were buried in this secret grave Kharitonov. Consequently, only the remains of two members of the imperial family were missing from the burial - the heir Alexei Nikolaevich and the Grand Duchess Maria. Almost a year ago, during archaeological excavations south of the first burial site, “fragments of bone tissue” were found. The location and nature of the find allowed investigators from the Prosecutor General's Office to assume that the remains belonged to Tsarevich Alexei and his sister.
In September 2007, the SKP appointed forensic and medical-criminalistic examinations, “in which well-known Russian and foreign specialists from various expert organizations and scientific institutions were involved.” Identification was complicated by the fact that the bone fragments and teeth found in the “second burial” were exposed to acids, flames and high temperatures. Nevertheless, in May of this year, the official representative of the SKP, Vladimir Markin, said: the remains belong to a teenager 12-14 years old and a girl 17-19 years old, the circumstances of whose death “coincide with the information” about the death of the children of Nicholas II.
In a statement issued yesterday, the Investigative Committee said that “researchers were able to isolate DNA in quantities sufficient for analysis” and identify the remains. “Based on the totality of anthropological and genetic data, it can be argued that in two burials there are the remains of seven people who make up one specific family group,” the UPC emphasizes. At the same time, a forensic ballistic examination of bullets and cartridges found at the burial sites was carried out. “It has been established that two pairs of bullets, found respectively in the area of Ganina Yama and the 1991 burial, were fired from the same weapons,” representatives of the Investigative Committee report.
The head of the investigative group of the Investigative Committee of the Investigative Committee, Vladimir Solovyov, who was also present at the press conference in Yekaterinburg, said that three genetic examinations have now been completed. “One was carried out at the Institute of Genetics of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Vavilov by expert Evgeny Rogaev, the second examination was carried out in the Pentagon genetic laboratory by Michael Kobu, and the third was carried out by Walter Parsman in Innsbruck, Mr. Soloviev said. “They all say that the remains belong to the children of the royal family.” And in addition to this, studies were carried out on the first burial, repeated studies were carried out, which fully confirmed what was done at the time.” In the near future, it is planned to conduct a direct comparison of the DNA found in the bone remains and the biological blood sample of Nicholas II, found in one of the museum storages. In addition, investigators obtained consent from representatives of the royal families of Europe related to the Romanov dynasty to conduct additional research on the genetic material.
Despite many examinations, researchers are still not ready to guarantee that “exactly those” remains were found. The work of genetic experts will continue, promises the head of the Sverdlovsk Regional Bureau of Forensic Medicine, Nikolai Nevolin, who believes that the similarity of genetic material should be “one to one.” But the church hierarchs continue to play the role of “chief skeptic”. As is known, the Russian Orthodox Church, which in 2000 canonized the royal martyrs, at the same time expressed doubt that the remains buried in the Peter and Paul Cathedral in 1998 belonged to the family of the last emperor and, therefore, can be considered the relics of holy martyrs.
“The Church has not received answers to all its questions to the researchers of the alleged remains of the family of Nicholas II,” said representatives of the Yekaterinburg diocese, commenting on the statement of the UPC. The same opinion is shared by the Patriarchate itself. The deputy head of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, noted in a conversation with a Vremya Novostei correspondent that the Holy Synod has not yet formulated its position on the “newly discovered circumstances.” “In any case, I would like to draw attention to what the scientists themselves say about the need to continue examinations,” noted Vsevolod Chaplin. “And we were told that “everything is clear” several times, including regarding those remains that are now in the Peter and Paul Fortress.” The DECR deputy head is confident that research into the remains must be continued in order to remove all doubts. The sooner this happens, the sooner the position of the church will be expressed, emphasizes Fr. Vsevolod.
However, some representatives of the House of Romanov, who are now gathering in St. Petersburg to participate in the mourning ceremony on the occasion of the 90th anniversary of the execution of Nicholas II and his family, are ready to believe the statement of the UPC. “I am very excited because only this morning we learned about the results of the examination, which confirmed one hundred percent that the remains of Tsarevich Alexei and Grand Duchess Maria were indeed found in Yekaterinburg,” Dimitri Romanov, the great-great-grandson of Nicholas I, said yesterday. “This is very important, because when they said 90 percent, 95 percent, there were still doubts. And now we have complete confidence.” According to 82-year-old Prince Romanov, who heads the Romanovs for Russia charity foundation that helps sick children, it is important for all members of the imperial family that “the family be together.”
Dimitry Romanov himself was unable to answer the question of when and how the reburial of the remains could be carried out, which he, following the UPC, is ready to recognize as the ashes of Tsarevich Alexei and Princess Maria. However, a wish was expressed by another descendant of Nicholas I - Grand Duke Nikolai Romanovich, who is now in France and heads the Association of Members of the House of Romanov. “We believe that it is necessary to bury Alexei and Maria in St. Petersburg, in the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul on the territory of the Peter and Paul Fortress, where the emperor, empress and three daughters are already buried,” he told ITAR-TASS. At the same time, particles of the holy relics of the royal children can be kept in one of the churches in Yekaterinburg, this is allowed by the very fact of the canonization of the last emperor and his family. However, the Grand Duke emphasizes, the decision to bury the remains of Alexei and Maria is the prerogative of the Russian state authorities, and “the church will then decide what to do with the relics.” The only thing that representatives of the House of Romanov insist on is that Alexei and Maria must be buried in the same tomb where other members of the royal family are buried. Grand Duke Nicholas recalled that in 1998, the descendants of the imperial family, who were present at the burial, “asked not to separate the Romanovs, the servants of the royal family and Doctor Botkin, because they were tortured and killed together.”
Other bearers of the imperial family, united around Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna, have taken a wait-and-see approach and are waiting for the remains to be recognized by the church. But in any case, it is too early to talk about the final restoration of historical justice in relation to Nicholas II and his family, said German Lukyanov, a lawyer for the Russian imperial house, in a conversation with a Vremya Novostey correspondent, recalling that Russian justice has not yet made a procedural decision on "the case of the royal remains." Mr. Lukyanov also expressed doubt that the current surge of interest in the history of the death of Nicholas II could somehow affect the satisfaction of the claim for the legal rehabilitation of the royal family as victims of Bolshevik repressions. “We presented documents and evidence that Nicholas II and his relatives were subjected to repression on social, class and religious grounds to both the Prosecutor General’s Office and the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, but no legal assessment was given to these arguments,” emphasizes Mr. - Mr. Lukyanov. Let us recall that in 2006 the Prosecutor General’s Office decided that the execution of the imperial family was a criminal offense and, therefore, those killed were not subject to the federal law “On the rehabilitation of victims of political repression.”