INVESTIGATION FINALLY ASCERTAINS THAT REMAINS FOUND NEAR EKATERINBURG BELONG TO NICHOLAS II AND MEMBERS OF HIS FAMILY
Interfax-Religiia,
16 July 2018
A repeated complex analysis has confirmed the genuineness of remains of Emperor Nicholas II and his family, who were shot 100 years ago in Ekaterinburg, an official representative of the Investigative Committee of Russia (Sledstvennyi Komitet Rossii—SKR), Svetlana Petreno, reported.
"As of now, the conclusions of the complex molecular-genetic expert analysis that was commissioned have confirmed that the remains that were found belonged to the former emperor, Nicholas II, and to members of his family and persons of their entourage," S. Petrenko told Interfax on Monday.
She noted that according to the conclusions of the molecular-genetic expert analysis, seven of the eleven remains that were discovered correspond to a septet of mother, father, four daughters, and a son.
"The results of a comparison of the genetic profiles of the remains of bones and of samples from currently surviving relatives of the Romanov family on both the paternal and maternal lines confirm that the remains belong to Nicholas II and members of his family," S. Petrenko said.
In addition, she said, from the conclusion of a molecular-genetic expert analysis for establishing the biological relations of Emperor Alexander III (who was exhumed in the Peter-Paul cathedral of St. Petersburg) and the dead man, who is identified as the former emperor, Nicholas II, "it follows that they are relatives at the level of father and son."
"After the completion of two repeated medical (anthropological), authorial, and historical-archival forensic expert analyses in the criminal case, which have been commissioned, a final procedural decision will be made," the representative of the SKR said.
She added that prominent scholars were involved in the procedure of the expert analyses, who are studying and systematizing approximately 2,000 documentary primary sources, including some discovered in 2017-2018 in foreign archives and museums, which nobody has studied.
In the night of 17 July 1918, in Ekaterinburg, by order of the executive committee of the Urals oblast soviet of workers', peasants', and soldiers' deputies, led by the bolsheviks, Russian Emperor Nicholas II and his family were shot.
In July 1991, on the Stary Koptyakovsky road near Ekaterinburg, a grave was discovered in which were remains of nine persons. In the opinion of the investigation, they belonged to members of the tsarist family, Nicholas II, his wife, their daughters, Olga, Tatyana, and Anastasia, and also a doctor and servants.
After the discovery of the burial-site near Ekaterinburg and the conduct of expert analyses, the remains of members of the tsarist family were buried in 1998 in the burial vault of the Peter-Paul cathedral of St. Petersburg.
On 29 July 2007, during the conduct of archaeological excavations to the south of the site of the first burial, remains of another two persons were discovered. Numerous expert analyses have confirmed that the remains belong to Nicholas II's children, Tsarevich Alexis and his sister Maria.
A government working group proposed conducting on 18 October 2015 a ceremony of burial in the Romanov family vault in the Peter-Paul fortress of the remains of Tsarevich Alexis and Grand Princess Maria. At the same time, the group allowed the possibility of additional examinations in order to dispel the doubts of the church regarding the authenticity of the "Ekaterinburg remains."
Subsequently the Investigative Committee renewed the investigation in the criminal case regarding the deaths of members of the tsarist family. This permitted the start of additional expert analyses for confirming the genuineness of the remains of Alexis and Maria, which were stored in the State Archive.
On 23 September 2015, in the Peter-Paul cathedral of St. Petersburg, in the presence of representatives of the church, samples were taken from the supposed skeletons of Nicholas II and his wife, and also from the clothing of the grandfather of the last emperor, Alexander II, worn at the time of his murder. A new genetic expert analysis confirmed the genuineness of the skulls of Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Fedorovna. In November 2015, the opening of the grave of Alexander III was conducted.
Then began the comparison of the genetic materials of Nicholas II and his wife with the genetic material of Alexis and Maria, the establishment of the genotype of Alexander III, and identification of hemophilia in the remains of Empress Alexandra Fedorovna, her daughters, and Tsarevich Alexis. In addition, it was planned to complete an examination of the blood on the clothing of Alexander II, and work was conducted on the servants and associates of Nicholas II, who were executed along with the tsarist family.
In its turn, the Russian Orthodox Church established a special commission for study of the results of the new examination. In the event of a positive conclusion by the expert analysis regarding the genuineness of the remains, the issue of recognizing them as sacred relics will be presented to the bishops for review.
Patriarch Kirill declared that the
investigation of the case
of murder of the family of Nicholas II will be completed when the
truth has
been established. "I have received assurances at the very highest
level
that no haste and twisting of the conclusion of the investigation
by such and
such a date will be permitted. The investigation will go on for as
long as is
necessary in order to establish the truth," the patriarch said in
February
2016 at the bishops' council in Moscow. (tr. by PDS, posted 19
July 2018)
RPTs COMMENTS ON CHARGE OF DRAGGING OUT CASE OF "TSARIST REMAINS"
Statements by several representatives of the Orthodox community about the alleged dragging out by the church of the process of investigating the case of the murder of the royal family are partisan, the head of the synod's Department for Relations of the Church with Society and News Media, Vladimir Legoida, said on Wednesday.
Several representatives of the church community expressed the opinion that the decision about the authenticity of the "Ekaterinburg remains" was not made by the Russian Orthodox Church allegedly because of Patriarch Kirill's fears of thereby provoking displeasure on the part of conservative-minded citizens.
"It has already been said many times that the decision will not be made by the patriarch. Our church is conciliar, and a decision will be made conciliarly. The patriarch will not act unilaterally on either this decision or any other decisions of such a level. . . . A decision of such a level will be made conciliarly. Therefore this point of view, of course, is pointless and partisan. There will be discussion and, naturally, on the basis of the results of the discussion all points of view will be taken into consideration," Legoida told journalists, commenting on various critical statements in the blogosphere and news media regarding the course of the investigation.
Patriarch of Moscow and all-Rus Kirill conducted a prayer service at an ark with relics of the holy Princess Elizabeth Fedorovna in the Ekaterinburg memorial church on the Blood in Honor of All Saints Resplendent in the Russian Land. (tr. by PDS, posted 20 July 2018)
Editorial disclaimer: RRN does
not intend to certify the accuracy of information
presented in articles. RRN simply intends to certify the
accuracy of the English translation of the contents of the
articles as they appeared in news media of countries of
the former USSR.
If material is quoted, please give credit to the
publication from which it came. It is not necessary to credit
this Web page. If material is transmitted electronically, please
include reference to the URL,
http://www.stetson.edu/~psteeves/relnews/.