That the Church has not yet formed its position regarding the Yekaterinburg remains.

According to him, the investigation carried out in the 1990s was characterized by opacity and a complete reluctance to let the Church into this process. Therefore, the Patriarch, discussing this topic with the President of Russia, raised the question of a re-investigation, where “from the very beginning to the end the Church should not observe from the sidelines, but it should be included in this process.”

“And as a result of a new investigation, conducted anew according to all the rules of conducting an investigative case, we received some results,” said the Primate of the Church.

He emphasized that the results of the examinations are not tied to any dates or deadlines, so there can be no haste here.

“For us, this is not just a question of how this murder was committed, what it all meant, whether the remains found are the remains royal family. This is also a question related to the spiritual life of our people, because the royal family is canonized and is very deeply revered by the people. Therefore, we have no room for error,” he emphasized.

Deputy Administrator of the Moscow Patriarchate, Archimandrite Savva (Tutunov), said that the issue of the authenticity of the Ekaterinburg remains will be considered at the Council of Bishops, which will be held in Moscow from November 29 to December 4.

“The people who are responsible for studying this issue will probably say something. But it’s too early to talk about what conclusions will be drawn,” he said, emphasizing that the examination will take as long as necessary to complete it.

Chairman Synodal Department on the relationship of the Church with society and the media, Vladimir Legoyda noted that the completion of the examination is also “only a stage: you need to see how the results of one examination are combined with another.”

“This process will be as open as possible,” he promised.

Interrogations and examinations

Marina Molodtsova

Senior Special Investigator important matters The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, Marina Molodtsova, said that after the resumption of the investigation into the murder of the royal family, more than 20 people who discovered the burial of the remains and participated in the excavations were interrogated.

“With their participation, inspections of the crime scene were carried out - both Ganina Pit and Porosenkov Log, where they spoke about the circumstances known to them in the case,” Molodtsova said.

She also reported that the investigative authorities, after resuming the investigation into the death of the royal family, ordered 34 different examinations.

“The examination is not completed. There are only intermediate results on some issues,” the investigator said.

According to Molodtsova, “thorough research is being carried out on the remains of people found in two burials in Porosenkovo ​​Log. The experts were asked questions about the causes of death, establishing gender and family ties, and identifying various injuries.”

We are talking about the remains of nine people found in the area of ​​​​the Old Koptyakovskaya Road in 1991 and subsequently buried in the Romanov tomb in the Peter and Paul Fortress in 1998, as well as a find in 2007. Then, during archaeological excavations to the south of the site where the supposed remains of members of the Romanov family were discovered, burnt fragments of bones and teeth of a woman and child were found.

Molodtsova noted that the molecular genetic examination has not been completed, as well as the examination of the soil in order to establish the likelihood of their burning.

Version about ritual murder

The investigator said that a psychological and historical examination would also be carried out “to resolve the issue of the possible ritual nature of the murder” and an examination “on all versions of Yurovsky’s notes (Yakov Yurovsky is the immediate leader of the execution of the family of Nicholas II in the Ipatiev House. - Ed.), since there are doubts about the authorship of these notes."

“Carrying out examinations requires considerable time,” she concluded.

Bishop Tikhon (Shevkunov)

The secretary of the Patriarchal Commission for the study of the results of the examination, Bishop Tikhon (Shevkunov) of Yegoryevsk, also stated that the murder of Nicholas II and his family could have been of a ritual nature.

"We have the most serious attitude to the version of ritual murder. Moreover, a significant part of the church commission has no doubt that this was so,” he said.

The secretary of the commission emphasized that this version must be proven and justified. “This needs to be proven and justified. The fact that the emperor, even if he had abdicated, was killed in this way, that the victims were distributed among the murderers, as evidenced by Yurovsky (one of the participants in the execution), and that many wanted to be regicides. This already suggests that for many this was a special ritual,” added Bishop Tikhon.

Denial of rumors

Vasily Khristoforov

Chief researcher at the Institute of Russian History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, researcher of the history of Russian intelligence services, Doctor of Law Vasily Khristoforov denied rumors that the Bolsheviks allegedly cut off the head of Nicholas II and sent him to the Kremlin. According to the historian, this information was not confirmed during the investigation into the circumstances of the death of the royal family.

“We do not have not only a single document, but not a single indirect evidence of a participant in the events regarding the beheading,” said Khristoforov, who is a member of the Patriarchal Commission for studying the results of the study of Yekaterinburg remains.

The search must continue

Victor Zvyagin

The head of the department of forensic medical identification of the Russian Center for Forensic Medicine, Viktor Zvyagin, believes that the search for possible burial places of Emperor Nicholas II, his family members and servants must be continued.

According to the expert, this conclusion was made based on the mass of discovered bone and dental fragments of the burial, which presumably belongs to Tsarevich Alexei and Grand Duchess Anastasia. “A total of 46 bone objects were delivered, most of which were less than a gram in mass,” he said, noting that this was significantly less than what experts estimated should have been found. In addition, bone fragments were found there that do not belong to humans.

“The results show that only one of several criminal burial sites has been discovered and the search needs to continue. There is information that several places have been discovered where it is possible for them (the remains. – Ed.) to be found using 3D radar methods,” Zvyagin said.

Complete burning is doubtful

Vyacheslav Popov

Chairman of the Forensic Medical Association of North-West Russia, President of the International Congress of Forensic Physicians Vyacheslav Popov is confident that the bodies of the family of Nicholas II and their servants could not be completely destroyed by sulfuric acid and fire.

“There is no reason to overestimate the damaging effect of sulfuric acid; it, of course, could be poured onto bodies, but destroy them with this method of exposure concentrated acid impossible,” the expert noted.

He said that experiments were carried out not only using concentrated sulfuric acid, but also an experiment examining the processes in the cremation chamber, which led experts to the conclusion that it was impossible to completely burn the bodies.

Patriarch Kirill also noted that it is necessary to once again check the version about the possible complete burning of the remains. He told how he himself witnessed the process of cremation of the dead in India.

“I was there and saw with my own eyes how cremations are carried out: they burn all day, from early morning until late at night, using huge dry firewood. As a result of cremation, body parts still remain,” the Primate said.

At the same time, according to Marina Molodtsova, the investigation is considering all versions of the murder of members of the royal family, including the version of the complete burning of bodies in the Ganina Yama area. As part of the investigation of this version, “soil samples were discovered and taken from the territory of the monastery of the Royal Passion-Bearers.”

How the commission works: two groups

Its secretary, Bishop Tikhon (Shevkunov) of Yegoryevsk, spoke about the work of the Patriarchal Commission to study the results of the examination of the Yekaterinburg remains. According to him, expert groups of church and secular specialists “do not influence each other.”

“The Church Commission, which works with the blessing of the Patriarch, consists of historians, we have a historical part. The investigation involved experts in the field of criminology, anthropology, genetics and forensic experts. Forensic scientists and anthropologists work on their own. This is very important for us. There is no impact on them,” the bishop explained.

At the same time, he noted that the results of the work of different groups of specialists are known to everyone involved in the work on this case. “Historians have the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the results of anthropologists and criminologists,” he added.

The last Russian Emperor Nicholas II and his family were shot in the summer of 1918 in Yekaterinburg. In 2000, the Russian Church canonized Nicholas II and members of his family; after the opening of the burial near Yekaterinburg, the remains of members of the imperial family were buried in the tomb Peter and Paul Cathedral St. Petersburg.

In the fall of 2015, investigators resumed the investigation into the death of members of the Romanov dynasty. Currently, examinations are also being carried out to establish the authenticity of the remains found in 2007, possibly of Tsarevich Alexei and Grand Duchess Maria.

On July 17, 1998, the entire country was glued to television screens for several hours, watching one of the most heinous events of the twentieth century take place - the reburial of members of the royal family. But the sorrow on the face of Yeltsin, the head of state at that time, did not reflect the true inner joy of what was happening and...

Conscious Russian society There is no such confusion about any event of the 20th century as about the “execution” of the royal family. However, this issue is confused not because it is too complex for research. He is deliberately confused! Even the documents already available today are quite enough to tell the whole truth about what happened to the last Russian Tsar and his family in 1917.

But why is this truth kept silent? But because the truth is not needed by the authorities. Neither the previous one nor the current one. Under Yeltsin, any attempt to reveal the secret of the royal family ran into his fierce resistance. Why? This is what we will talk about now.

How Boris Nikolaevich “killed” Anastasia Nikolaevna

There are many articles and books that claim that in 1918 the royal family managed to escape! Many testimonies of people who personally knew one or another member of the royal family in the 20s, 30s and even later have been published.

Of particular interest is the fate of the Tsar's youngest daughter, Anastasia. She lived a difficult and long life, and under a false name. In 1994, the district court of Tbilisi received statement of claim from citizen Natalia Petrovna Bilikhodze. This was Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanova.

She asked the court to establish her relationship with her father Nicholas II and mother Alexandra Fedorovna Romanova. The trial began on December 2, 1994. Witnesses were heard, documents were examined, and the results of numerous examinations were studied.

Everything was leading to the fact that the identity of the youngest princess was about to be accurately established. Suddenly, on March 16, 1995, the trial was interrupted. Some insignificant reasons were cited, but, as it turned out later, Yeltsin put pressure on the Tbilisi court.

Why did he need this? I think I won’t surprise anyone by saying that the reason was money.

Back in 1923, the People's Commissar for Foreign Trade L. Krasin ordered a British investigative law firm to evaluate Russian real estate and cash deposits abroad. By 1993, this company reported that it had already accumulated a data bank worth 400 billion dollars! And this is legal Russian money. Anastasia Romanova, who by this time was already the only surviving direct heir, could receive these deposits. In addition, it was she who was entrusted by Nicholas II to be the manager of the royal deposits. And she is the only one! - knew the numbers of the codes of these deposits.

Anastasia Romanova knew about the difficult situation in Russia and wanted to help her country. She wrote letters to the country's leaders, in which she expressed her readiness to transfer the royal deposits abroad to the Russian state. But for this it was necessary that President Yeltsin help her legalize as the daughter of Nicholas II.

And Yeltsin had enormous opportunities to quickly resolve this matter. He had all the Soviet archives in his hands, he could actually high level request any documents in other countries. However, Yeltsin not only did not help Anastasia legalize, but took the exact opposite step: he closed down the trial in Tbilisi.

It is impossible to imagine anything more absurd in this situation. In essence, he wished that the living Anastasia be considered dead.

But this is not the only absurdity. After all, by this act Yeltsin himself voluntarily refused to replenish the meager Russian state treasury by 400 billion dollars! But this is absurd from the point of view of a decent person, and Yeltsin was not one. Now, if Anastasia had promised to give the royal money to Boris Nikolaevich personally, then it would be a different matter. And lo and behold, a patriot has been found who cares about the Russian state. Yeltsin, of course, didn’t give a damn about state interests. Moreover, he already had another option in mind. One where he could profit personally. This option consisted of not only preventing Anastasia from proving that she was alive, but also solemnly “burying” her. Thus began the epic with the reburial of the “royal remains.” The most shameful page in Russian history.

Non-royal bones lie in the Peter and Paul Fortress

The fact that these were not royal bones is already clear. However, this was known even when the fraudulent enterprise was just being prepared.

But why did it come to Yeltsin’s head to bury the “royal remains” without fail - there weren’t other things to do? The year was 1998. Everything in the country was falling apart, being stolen, and the country was confidently heading towards default. Yeltsin himself was heading towards default. He felt with his whole being how the ground was literally disappearing from under his feet. So Yeltsin needed the action to bury the royal bones in order to at least slightly correct his completely fallen authority, in order to create at least the appearance of his former power. Like, look, people, Boris Nikolaevich is burying the Tsar himself, isn’t this continuity of power!

And Yeltsin knew, he knew, that a frame-up was being prepared. Not to mention Anastasia, who was declared dead at Yeltsin’s request, but materials have already been published that completely different people, and not the royal family, were shot in the basement of the Ipatiev House. He knew, but he persisted.

Let's remember who headed the burial commission? Chernomyrdin, whose knowledge of history remained at the level of a school textbook for the third grade. Nemtsov, known for his adventurism and Khlestakov-like boasting.

These two, absolutely unprincipled people, and also greedy for money, were ready to fulfill any order from Yeltsin. Does he want the royal remains to be buried? It will be done. If we don’t find the remains, we’ll make them out of something, doesn’t it matter what we bury?

Well, now - the most interesting part. It turns out that there was another interested party who benefited from Anastasia being considered not alive, but dead. This is English royal family. The fact is that in the event of a proven fact of death of all the direct heirs of the Tsar, the Queen Mother of England received access to the Romanov funds. She was still alive then, although on the eve of her centenary.

The British royal family was well aware that the bones being examined could not, at least, include those of Anastasia, since she was alive. Therefore, in agreement with the Russian side, the remains were sent for analysis...to England.

The result of the analysis was magnificent: these are the royal remains! True, the cranial bones were not sent for examination, since the skulls were from completely different people. And the bones taken to England were indeed royal, but only taken not from Yekaterinburg, but from... Georgia. It was in Georgia that after their salvation the members of the royal family lived, and there they died in different times, and were buried there. But the English examination, having analyzed the DNA composition and determined the sex of the remains, “forgot” to determine the lifetime age. And the bones of Princess Anastasia were allegedly constructed from various other bones, so it turned out that Anastasia’s skeleton is 13 centimeters larger than her lifetime height.

There were decent people on the investigation commission. It is known that five of the commission members refused to sign the fake. Just think, Nemtsov decided, we can do without signatures. And he announced that everyone had voted unanimously. Those who disagreed were not allowed to open their mouths.

So, the shameful burial took place. I remember this disgusting sight when Boris Nikolaevich and his wife fervently crossed themselves, giving their faces a mournful expression, knowing full well that they were committing a forgery.

The deal with England promised big profits for Yeltsin, but for some reason it fell through. I don't know anything about the reason yet. But I know that Yeltsin had one more backup option for this case too. This option was slipped to him by his beloved oligarchs - Berezovsky and Abramovich, who really wanted to get their hands on foreign Russian wealth and deposits. And this, I repeat, is 400 billion dollars!

They presented Yeltsin with a clever project in which they acted as guardians of state interests. Yeltsin liked the project. Politicians and public figures figured out the essence of the impending fraud, realizing that the state would get pennies, and billions would go into the pockets of the oligarchs.

The Duma developed and adopted a law on the protection of Russia's property interests abroad on a state basis. That is, without oligarch intermediaries. Yeltsin, of course, could not allow his “family” oligarchs, as they said then, Yeltsin’s “wallets,” to suffer because of some kind of state interests. And in June 1999, the law was rejected by Yeltsin.

Then, as you remember, Yeltsin resigned. But Berezovsky and Abramovich did not calm down and continued their intrigues under Putin, offering him the same “project”. But Putin, unlike Yeltsin, did not drink and quickly saw through the oligarchs’ plan.

IN urgently, October 23, 2000, Putin issued decree No. 1771, according to which foreign real estate former USSR and the former Russian Empire was transferred to the disposal of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Presidential Administration. And, on his recommendation, the Duma returned to consider and adopt the law previously rejected by Yeltsin. Thus, access to the royal money was closed to the oligarchs.

Now - the most difficult question: why does the current President not touch on the topic of the royal family? He already knows the whole truth, there is a lot of evidence of this. Nobody knows the exact answer; here you can only express your guesses.

P.S. When writing this article we used:

Book by A. Romanova “I am Anastasia Romanova.”

Book by V. Sirotkin “Foreign Klondikes of Russia”.

Articles by L. Zamoisky, Yu. Koveshnikov, V. Sirotkin, D. Olshansky, A. Gryannik. Mikhail Nalimov. ROYAL FAMILY. EVIDENCE OF THE GREAT FORGERY

Publication by Japanese geneticists of the results of a study of human remains, which are official Russian authorities recognized as the remains of the family of Nikolai Romanov, caused a lot of noise. After analyzing the DNA structures of the Ekaterinburg remains and comparing them with the DNA analysis of the brother of Nicholas the Second Grand Duke Georgiy Romanov, the nephew of Emperor Tikhon Kulikovsky-Romanov, and DNA taken from particles of sweat from the imperial clothes, professor of the Tokyo Institute of Microbiology Tatsuo Nagai came to the conclusion that the remains , discovered near Yekaterinburg, do not belong to Nikolai Romanov and members of his family.

This gave special weight the arguments of that group of learned historians and geneticists who are confident that in 1998, in the Peter and Paul Fortress, under the guise of the imperial family, completely alien remains were buried with great pomp. For almost ten years, professor Russian Academy history and paleontology Vadim Viner. For this purpose he even created special Center to investigate the circumstances of the death of family members of the House of Romanov, of which he is president. Wiener is confident that the statement of Japanese scientists could provoke a new political scandal in Russia if the decision of a special commission of the Russian government recognizing the “Ekaterinburg remains” as Romanov’s is not canceled. He spoke about the main arguments on this matter and what interests were intertwined in the “Romanov case” in an interview with Strana.Ru correspondent Viktor Belimov.

Vadim Aleksandrovich, what reasons does Russia have to trust Tatsuo Nagai?

There are enough of them. It is known that for an examination of this level it is necessary to take not distant relatives of the emperor, but close relatives. This means sisters, brothers, mother. What did the government commission do? She took distant kinship, second cousins ​​of Nicholas II, and a very distant kinship along the line of Alexandra Feodorovna, this is the English Prince Philip. Despite the fact that it is possible to find out the DNA structures of close relatives: there are the relics of Elizabeth Feodorovna, sister Empress, son of Nicholas II’s sister Tikhon Nikolaevich Kulikovsky-Romanov. Meanwhile, the comparison was made on the basis of analyzes of distant relatives, and very strange results were obtained with formulations such as “there are coincidences.” Coincidence in the language of geneticists does not mean identity at all. In general, we are all the same. Because we have two arms, two legs and one head. This is not an argument. The Japanese took DNA tests of the emperor’s close relatives.

Second. Recorded absolutely clear historical fact that when one day Nicholas, while still a crown prince, traveled to Japan, there he was hit on the head with a saber. Two wounds were inflicted: occipito-parietal and fronto-parietal 9 and 10 cm, respectively. While cleaning the second occipito-parietal wound, a bone fragment the thickness of an ordinary sheet of writing paper was removed. This is enough to leave a notch on the skull - the so-called bone callus, which does not resolve. On the skull, which the Sverdlovsk authorities, and later the federal ones, passed off as the skull of Nicholas II, there is no such callus. Both the Obretenie Foundation, represented by Mr. Avdonin, and the Sverdlovsk Bureau of Forensic Medicine, represented by Mr. Nevolin, said whatever they wanted: that the Japanese were mistaken, that the wound could migrate along the skull, and so on.

What did the Japanese do? It turns out that after Nikolai’s visit to Japan, they kept his scarf, vest, the sofa on which he sat, and the saber with which they hit him. All this is in the Otsu City Museum. Japanese scientists studied DNA from the blood that remained on the scarf after the wound, and DNA from cut bones discovered in Yekaterinburg. It turned out that the DNA structures are different. This was in 1997. Now Tatsuo Nagai decided to summarize all this data into one comprehensive study. His examination lasted a year and ended recently, in July. Japanese geneticists have proven 100 percent that the examination carried out by Mr. Ivanov’s group was clean water hackwork. But the DNA analysis carried out by the Japanese is only a link in a whole chain of evidence about the non-involvement of the Yekaterinburg remains with the family of Nicholas II.

In addition, I note that an examination was carried out using the same method by another geneticist, the President International Association forensic doctors by Mr. Bonte from Düsseldorf. He proved that the found remains and doubles of the family of Nicholas II, the Filatovs, are relatives.

Why are the Japanese so interested in proving the mistake of the Russian government and Russian geneticists?

Their interest here is purely professional. They have a thing that is directly related not only to the memory of Russia, but also to the entire controversial situation. I mean the handkerchief with the king's blood. As you know, geneticists are divided on this issue, as are historians. The Japanese supported the group that is trying to prove that these are not the remains of Nicholas II and his family. And they supported it not because they wanted it, but because their results themselves showed the obvious incompetence of Mr. Ivanov and, even more so, the incompetence of the entire government commission, which was created under the leadership of Boris Nemtsov. Tatsuo Nagai's conclusions are the last, very strong argument that is difficult to refute.

Were there any responses to Nagai's statements from your opponents?

There were screams. From the side of the same Avdonin. Like, what does some Japanese professor have to do with it if the governor of the Sverdlovsk region, Rossel, supported us. Then it was said that this was inspired by some dark forces. Who are they? Apparently there are many of them, starting with Patriarch Alexy II. Because the Church initially did not accept the point of view of the official authorities.

You said that DNA analysis is only a link in the chain of evidence. What other arguments are there to prove that there are no remains of the last imperial family in the Peter and Paul Fortress?

There are two blocks of arguments. The first block is intravital medicine. Initially, Nikolai Alexandrovich and his family were served by 37 doctors. Naturally, medical documents were preserved. This is the easiest examination. And the first argument that we found concerns the discrepancies between the data from the doctors’ lifetime records and the condition of skeleton No. 5. This skeleton was passed off as the skeleton of Anastasia. According to doctors' records, Anastasia had a height of 158 cm during her lifetime. She was short and plump. The skeleton that was buried is 171 cm tall and is the skeleton of a thin person. The second is bone callus, which I already mentioned.

Third. In the diaries of Nicholas II, when he was in Tobolsk, there is an entry: “I sat at the dentist.” A number of fellow historians and I began to look for who was the dentist in Tobolsk at that time. He, or rather she, was alone in the whole city - Maria Lazarevna Rendel. She left her son notes on the condition of Nicholas II's teeth. She told me what fillings she applied. We asked forensic scientists to look at the fillings on the skeleton's teeth. It turned out that nothing matches. The Medical Examiner's Office again said Rendell was wrong. How could she be wrong if she, excuse me, personally treated his teeth?

We started looking for other records. And I found in the State Archive of the Russian Federation on Bolshaya Pirogovskaya, 17, the records of physician Evgeniy Sergeevich Botkin. In one of the diaries there is a phrase: “Nicholas II unsuccessfully climbed onto a horse. He fell. A leg fracture. The pain is localized. A plaster cast was applied.” But there is not a single fracture on the skeleton, which they are trying to pass off as the skeleton of Nicholas II. And we did this at minimal cost. Investigator of the Prosecutor General's Office Solovyov, who led this case, did not need to travel abroad and spend budget money, as he did with pleasure. It was enough to look into the archives of Moscow and St. Petersburg. But this does not indicate reluctance, but rather the fact that the authorities very much wanted to ignore these arguments and documents.

The second block of arguments is related to history. First of all, we raised the question of whether Yurovsky’s note, on the basis of which the authorities were looking for the grave, is genuine. And now our colleague, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor Buranov, finds in the archive a handwritten note written by Mikhail Nikolaevich Pokrovsky, and not by any means Yakov Mikhailovich Yurovsky. This grave is clearly marked there. That is, the note is a priori false. Pokrovsky was the first director of Rosarkhiv. Stalin used it when it was necessary to rewrite history. He has a famous expression: “History is politics facing the past.” Yurovsky's note is a fake. Since it is a fake, you cannot use it to locate the grave. This is now a proven issue.

There is also a legal side to this...

It is also full of oddities and absurdities. We originally asked that all of this be displayed in the right margin. In 1991, Avdonin, who found the grave, contacted the Verkh-Isetsky District Department of Internal Affairs of Yekaterinburg with a statement about the find. From there they contact the regional prosecutor's office, and a prosecutor's inspection is ordered. The grave has been opened. Further it is unclear. A criminal case is not initiated, but as part of this inspection a prosecutor's examination is appointed. This is already an obvious contradiction. That is, they had to initiate a criminal case in connection with the discovery of remains that showed signs of violent death. Article 105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. As a result, a criminal case is initiated under Article 102. Murder committed by a group of persons by prior conspiracy. This is where real politics comes into play. Because a simple question arises: if you are taking a case based on the circumstances of the death of the royal family, then who should you involve as suspects in the murder? Sverdlov, Lenin, Dzerzhinsky - the city of Moscow? Or Beloborodova, Voikova, Goloshchekina - this is Uralsovet, Yekaterinburg. Who will you file a case against if they are all dead?

That is, a priori the case was illegal, and it had no judicial prospects. But under Article 102 it is easier to prove that these are the remains of the Romanov family, or rather, it is easier to ignore the arguments. How should one act if everything was done according to the law? You must set a statute of limitations and find out that no one can be held accountable. The criminal case is subject to closure. Next, you need to take the case to court, make a judicial ruling to establish personal identity, and then resolve the issue of the funeral. But this was not profitable for the Prosecutor General's Office. She spent government money, feigning vigorous activity. That is, it was pure politics. Considering that huge amounts of money from the federal budget were poured into this matter.

The Prosecutor General's Office initiates a case under Article 102 and closes it due to the fact that the remains belong to Nicholas II. It's the same difference as between sour and salty. Moreover, the decision about the remains was made not by the court, but by the government Russian Federation the times of Chernomyrdin. The government decides by voting that these are the remains of the royal family. Is this a court decision? Naturally not.

Moreover, the Prosecutor General's Office, represented by Solovyov, is seeking to issue a death certificate. I will quote him: “The death certificate was issued to Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov. Born on May 6, 1868. Place of birth unknown. Education unknown. Place of residence before arrest unknown. Place of work before arrest unknown. Cause of death - execution. Place of death basement of a residential building in the city of Yekaterinburg ". Tell me, who was issued this certificate? You don't know where he was born? You don't even know that he was an emperor? This is the realest mockery!

What is the position of the Church?

She does not recognize these remains as authentic, seeing all these contradictions. The church initially separated two issues - the remains separately, and the names separately. And then, realizing that the government will bury these remains, the Church makes the only correct decision from the “God knows their names” series. Here's the paradox. The Church buries under the motto “God knows their names,” Yeltsin, under pressure from the Church, buries some victims of the civil war. The question is: who are we burying anyway?

What do you think was the purpose of this whole thing? The argument for traveling “abroad” is still weak. The level of the game is still slightly higher...

Undoubtedly. I only mentioned what lies on the surface. There are several types of arguments here. The first type is based on Governor Rossel's favorite phrase "to go down in history." The essence of this argument is to show off against the backdrop of crowned heads.

But the banal reason is in the other direction. When did interest in the Romanovs arise? It was when Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev, and then Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev tried to improve relations with Buckingham Palace. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II said that she would not come to Russia until they apologize to her for the fate of Nicholas II. Nicholas II and her father are cousins. And she went only after they apologized to her. That is, all stages of the appearance and study of these remains are closely related to political events.

The autopsy of the remains took place a few days before the meeting between Gorbachev and Thatcher. As for Britain as such, there, in the Baring brothers’ bank, lies gold, the personal gold of Nicholas II. Five and a half tons. They cannot release this gold until Nicholas II is declared dead. Not even missing in action. Because no one put anyone on the wanted list. Therefore, he is not missing. According to UK law, the absence of a corpse and the absence of documents on the wanted list means that the person is alive. In this situation, apparently hoping that they will be able to process certain relatives, the authorities decide to search for the remains and conduct a poor-quality examination.

But even after this, the Baring brothers’ bank did not issue gold...

It was not by chance that the Prosecutor General's Office issued a death certificate. And a group of citizens turned to the bank for money. But the bank does not recognize this document. They are demanding a decision from a Russian court that Nicholas II died and these are his remains.

Why are relatives ready to worship someone else’s grave if only they were given gold?

For most relatives, of course, finding an authentic grave is more important than gold. They tried to drag them into this dirty game. Many refused, but some of the Romanovs still came to Yekaterinburg for the funeral.

What do you propose to do now that you have such influential people as Japanese scientists among your allies?

Let's return the matter strictly to the legal field. We'll take it to court. The court will reject the evidence system of the Prosecutor General's Office. Since there are already two judicial rulings in Germany on the recognition of the Yekaterinburg remains by the Filatov relatives. That is, you still need to determine whose remains these are and hand them over to relatives, let them decide where to bury them. That is, the procedure for removing the remains from the Peter and Paul Cathedral is looming.

Do you know whose remains these are?

According to German scientists, these are the remains of the Filatovs, doubles of Nicholas II. And Nicholas II had seven families of doubles. This is also a fact already known. The system of doubles began with Alexander the First. When his father, Emperor Paul the First, was killed as a result of a conspiracy, he was afraid that Paul's people would kill him. He gave the command to select three doubles for himself. Historically, it is known that there were two attempts on his life. Both times he remained alive because his doubles died. Alexander II had no doubles. Alexander the Third had doubles after the famous train crash in Borki. Nicholas II had doubles after Bloody Sunday 1905. Moreover, these were specially selected families. Only at the last moment did a very narrow circle of people find out which route and in which carriage Nicholas II would travel. And so the same departure of all three carriages took place. It is unknown which of them Nicholas II sat in. Documents about this are in the archives of the third department of the Office of His Imperial Majesty. And the Bolsheviks, having seized the archive in 1917, naturally received the names of all the doubles. Next, Sergei Davydovich Berezkin appears in Sukhumi, ideally similar to Nicholas II. His wife is Surovtseva Alexandra Fedorovna, a copy of the Empress. And he has children - Olga, Tatyana, Maria, Anastasia. They covered the king.

When did they become known?

People have been talking about Berezkin since 1915. He also lived in Soviet era in Sukhumi. Died in 1957. The KGB used it to work with the monarchist-minded population. They went to him as if they were Nicholas II, and the authorities found out who went and why they went. The problem of doubles really exists. There, only the child who portrayed Alexei Nikolaevich did not have hemophilia.

How were families formed?

There were both real families and national teams. The problem of doubles needs to be identified and studied. The prosecutor's office said "amen" to this version. I have already said that she did not take into account any evidence that was contrary to the official point of view.

Is there evidence that the Filatovs followed to Tobolsk, to Yekaterinburg?

We don't know this yet. I have questions. We have not yet been given these documents. The trail leads to the FSB building. From there, at one time, in 1955, information was leaked that a grave near Yekaterinburg was opened in 1946. Although there is also a conclusion by Doctor of Medical Sciences Popov that the grave is 50 years old, not 80. As we say, in the Romanov case, one question was answered - 20 more arose. The matter is so complicated. This is worse than the Kennedy assassination. Because the information is strictly dosed.

What was the point of going into this grave in 1946?

Perhaps it was created at that time. Let us remember that in 1946, a resident of Denmark, Anna Andersen, tried to get royal gold. Starting the second process to recognize herself as Anastasia. Her first trial did not end in anything; it lasted until the mid-30s. Then she paused and in 1946 filed a lawsuit again. Stalin apparently decided that it was better to make a grave where “Anastasia” would lie than to explain these issues to the West. There are far-reaching plans here, many of which we don’t even know about. We can only guess.

Did the Filatovs live at that time?

Don't know. Filatov's trail is lost.

And what relatives did the scientist Bonte communicate with?

He communicated with Oleg Vasilyevich Filatov. This is the son of Filatov, who portrayed, according to some sources, Nikolai himself, according to others - Alexei. Obviously, Oleg himself heard the ringing, but does not know where it is. The German compared his analyzes with the German relatives of the Filatovs and with the Yekaterinburg remains. And I got a 100% match. Nobody denies this examination. They are silent about her. Although in Germany it has judicial status. No one has ever talked about doppelgängers. I once stuttered in one interview, they told me that I was crazy, although I was raising a problem that really existed.

What do you intend to do next?

We would like to create some kind of discussion club and hold a series of Internet conferences. In September, the famous scientist-historian Vladlen Sirotkin is scheduled to come to Yekaterinburg. He is collecting documents on Russia's claims to Western debts. According to him, not only do we owe the West, but the West also owes us. The amount of debt is $400 billion. The Czech Republic, England, France, America, Japan, Germany, Italy owe us. A lot of money was sent to the West for the purchase of weapons during the First World War. These were collateral for future deliveries. But there were no deliveries. Our property is there. Here is the price of the issue, which really stands behind all this. We need to show that the problem is multifaceted. It is very important for us that we went against the government, the official authorities, including the government of the Sverdlovsk region. We were persecuted in order to establish historical truth.

The first and only royal family There were Romanovs in Russia. Nicholas II had five children: 4 daughters (Anastasia, Olga, Tatyana, Maria) and a son Alexei.

The Romanovs ruled the Russian Empire from 1613 to 1917, which is already three hundred years! This family was truly powerful and deservedly received the title of dynasty.

The Romanov family was numerous; there were no problems with the successors to the throne. In 1918, after the Bolsheviks shot the emperor, his wife and children, large number impostors. Rumors spread that that very night in Yekaterinburg, one of them still survived.

And today many believe that one of the children could have been saved and that their offspring could live among us.

Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanova

After the massacre of the imperial family, many believed that Anastasia managed to escape

Anastasia was youngest daughter Nicholas. In 1918, when the Romanovs were executed, Anastasia’s remains were not found in the family burial and rumors spread that the young princess had survived.

People all over the world have been reincarnated as Anastasia. One of the most prominent impostors was Anna Anderson. I think she was from Poland.

Anna imitated Anastasia in her behavior, and rumors that Anastasia was alive spread quite quickly. Many also tried to imitate her sisters and brother. People all over the world tried to cheat, but Russia had the most doppelgängers.

Many believed that the children of Nicholas II survived. But even after the burial of the Romanov family was found, scientists were unable to identify the remains of Anastasia. Most historians still cannot confirm that the Bolsheviks killed Anastasia.

Later, a secret burial was found, in which the remains of the young princess were discovered, and forensic experts were able to prove that she died along with the rest of the family in 1918. Her remains were reburied in 1998.

DNA

Scientists were able to compare the DNA of the found remains and modern followers of the royal family

Many people believed that the Bolsheviks buried the Romanovs in various places in the Sverdlovsk region. In addition, many were convinced that two of the children were able to escape.

There was a theory that Tsarevich Alexei and Princess Maria were able to escape from the scene of the terrible execution. In 1976, scientists picked up a trail with the remains of the Romanovs. In 1991, when the era of communism was over, researchers were able to obtain government permission to open the burial site of the Romanovs, the same one left by the Bolsheviks.

But scientists needed DNA analysis to confirm the theory. They asked Prince Philip and Prince Michael of Kent to provide DNA samples to compare with those of the royal couple. Forensic experts confirmed that the DNA did indeed belong to the Romanovs. As a result of this research, it was possible to confirm that the Bolsheviks buried Tsarevich Alexei and Princess Maria separately from the rest.

Discovered remains of members of the royal family

Some people dedicated their free time searching for traces of the family's real burial place

In 2007, Sergei Plotnikov, one of the founders of an amateur historical group, made an amazing discovery. His group was searching for any facts related to the royal family.

In his free time, Sergei was engaged in searching for the remains of the Romanovs at the supposed site of the first burial. And one day he was lucky, he came across something solid and started digging.

To his surprise, he found several fragments of pelvic and skull bones. After an examination, it was established that these bones belong to the children of Nicholas II.

Evidence of foul play in murder

Few people know that the methods of killing family members differed from each other.

After an analysis of the bones of Alexei and Maria, it was found that the bones were severely damaged, but differently than the bones of the emperor himself.

Traces of bullets were found on Nikolai's remains, which means the children were killed in a different way. The rest of the family also suffered in their own ways.

Scientists were able to establish that Alexei and Maria were doused with acid and died from burns. Despite the fact that these two children were buried separately from the rest of the family, they suffered no less.

Results of the analysis of the remains

There was a lot of confusion around the Romanov bones, but in the end scientists were able to establish that they belonged to the family

Archaeologists discovered 9 skulls, teeth, bullets of various calibers, fabric from clothes and wires from a wooden box. The remains were determined to be those of a boy and a woman, with approximate ages ranging from 10 to 23 years.

The likelihood that the boy was Tsarevich Alexei, and the girl Princess Maria, is quite high. In addition, there were theories that the government managed to discover the location of the Romanov bones. There were rumors that the remains had been found back in 1979, but the government kept this information secret.

Lack of money

One of research groups was very close to the truth, but they soon ran out of money

In 1990, another group of archaeologists decided to start excavations, in the hope that they would be able to discover some more traces of the location of the remains of the Romanovs.

After several days or even weeks, they dug up an area the size of a football field, but never completed the study because they ran out of money. Surprisingly, Sergei Plotnikov found bone fragments in this very territory.

Doubt

Due to the fact that the Russian Orthodox Church demanded more and more confirmation of the authenticity of the Romanov bones, the reburial was postponed several times

The Russian Orthodox Church refused to accept the fact that the bones actually belonged to the Romanov family. The Church demanded more evidence that these same remains were actually found in the burial of the royal family in Yekaterinburg.

The successors of the Romanov family supported the Russian Orthodox Church, demanding additional research and confirmation that the bones really belong to the children of Nicholas II.

The reburial of the family was postponed many times, as the Russian Orthodox Church each time questioned the correctness of the DNA analysis and the belonging of the bones to the Romanov family. The church asked forensic experts to conduct an additional examination. After scientists finally managed to convince the church that the remains really belonged to the royal family, the Russian Orthodox Church planned a reburial.

Modern successors of the family

The Bolsheviks eliminated the bulk of the imperial family, but their distant relatives are alive to this day

Continuers family tree The Romanov dynasty lives among us. One of the heirs to the royal genes is Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and he provided his DNA for research. Prince Philip is the husband of Queen Elizabeth II, grandniece of Princess Alexandra, and the great-great-great-grandson of Nicholas I.

Another relative who helped with DNA identification is Prince Michael of Kent. His grandmother was cousin Nicholas II.

There are eight more successors to this family: Hugh Grosvenor, Constantine II, Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna Romanova, Grand Duke Georgy Mikhailovich, Olga Andreevna Romanova, Francis Alexander Matthew, Nikoletta Romanova, Rostislav Romanov. But these relatives did not provide their DNA for analysis, since Prince Philip and Prince Michael of Kent were recognized as the closest relatives. The Bolsheviks executed royal family in Yekaterinburg, and they needed to somehow hide the evidence of the crime committed.

There are two theories about how the Bolsheviks killed children. According to the first version, they first shot Nikolai, and then put his daughters in a mine where no one could find them. The Bolsheviks tried to blow up the mine, but their plan failed, so they decided to pour acid on the children and burn them.

According to the second version, the Bolsheviks wanted to cremate the bodies of the murdered Alexei and Maria. After several studies, scientists and forensic experts concluded that it was not possible to cremate the bodies.

To be cremated human body, really needed high temperature, and the Bolsheviks were in the forest, and they did not have the opportunity to create necessary conditions. After unsuccessful attempts cremation, they still decided to bury the bodies, but divided the family into two graves.

The fact that the family was not buried together explains why not all family members were initially found. This also disproves the theory that Alexei and Maria managed to escape.

The farewell ceremony lasted three days

By decision of the Russian Orthodox Church, the remains of the Romanovs were buried in one of the churches in St. Petersburg

The mystery of the Romanov dynasty rests with their remains in the Church of Saints Peter and Paul in St. Petersburg. After numerous studies, scientists still agreed that the remains belong to Nikolai and his family.

The last farewell ceremony took place in Orthodox Church and lasted three days. During funeral procession many still questioned the authenticity of the remains. But scientists say the bones match 97% of the royal family's DNA.

In Russia, this ceremony was given special meaning. Residents of fifty countries around the world watched as the Romanov family retired. It took more than 80 years to debunk the myths about the family of the last emperor of the Russian Empire. With the completion of the funeral procession, an entire era passed into the past.

Almost a hundred years have passed since that scary night, When Russian Empire ceased to exist forever. Until now, none of the historians can state unequivocally what happened that night and whether any of the family members survived. Most likely, the secret of this family will remain unsolved and we can only guess what really happened.

Marina Logunova

How the “strangest funeral of the 20th century” went

July 17 will mark 100 years since the execution of the latter’s family Russian Emperor Nicholas II and his entourage. And 20 years from the day their remains were buried in the Peter and Paul Cathedral.

Before the burial ceremony, the coffins with the remains of members of the family of Nicholas II and his servants were placed on a pedestal. PHOTO by Alexander SENTSOV and Alexander CHUMICHEV / TASS

Even then, in 1998, there was no consensus on the burial of these remains. For some, this was the last act of the tragedy that took place eighty years ago in Yekaterinburg, for others - "The strangest funeral of the 20th century."

It was decided to prepare the grave not in the Main Church of the Peter and Paul Cathedral, but in its southwestern corner - in the empty Catherine's chapel. It was restored back in 1993 and was not accessible to visitors at that time.

The standards that covered the coffins with the remains of Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna were subsequently transferred for eternal storage to the Museum of the History of the City.

Why there, and not in the Main Temple? Firstly, Nicholas II, who abdicated the throne for himself and his minor son, was at the time of his death a former sovereign, that is, a private citizen with the rank of colonel. Secondly, the remains of servants and a doctor were supposed to be buried in a single crypt with members of the last royal family - despite the fact that the Peter and Paul Cathedral is a tomb exclusively for members of the imperial house.

Thirdly, the position of the Russian Orthodox Church. The address of the Holy Synod to the flock said: “...The decision... to identify the remains found near Yekaterinburg as belonging to the family of Emperor Nicholas II caused serious doubts and even confrontations in the church and society... In this regard, the Holy Synod speaks out in favor of the immediate burial of these remains in a symbolic grave- monument. When all doubts regarding the “Ekaterinburg remains” are removed and the grounds for confusion and confrontation in society disappear, we should return to final decision question about the place of their burial."

Let me draw your attention: for the Russian Orthodox Church, the grave in the Catherine’s chapel is still symbolic today, in which certain “Ekaterinburg remains” are buried, while for state power this is the real grave of the family of Nicholas II and their entourage...

For three days of mourning events, Hare Island was closed to the public, the employees of the City History Museum were relieved of work, except for a very small number of administration representatives. At that time, residential buildings were still located on the territory of the fortress, and their inhabitants received the right to enter only with passports and specially obtained passes. Participants in the funeral ceremony also had special passes, some only to the territory of Hare Island, and others to the Peter and Paul Cathedral.

More than fifty members of the Romanov family and their relatives from all over the world arrived in the Northern capital - from Australia, North and South America and Europe. Prince Michael of Kent arrived from Great Britain, and members of the Oldenburg dynasty, closely associated with the Romanovs, arrived from Germany.

From the airport, the funeral cortege proceeded to the Peter and Paul Fortress, slowing down only near Winter Palace. As the cortege approached the fortress, bells began to ring from the bell tower of the Peter and Paul Cathedral. Then the funeral procession on foot, as it should be in such cases, proceeded to the fortress through the front Petrovsky Gate - to Cathedral Square. The coffins were placed on a pedestal in the center of the cathedral: on the lower step - with the remains of the servants and the doctor, on the middle - the Grand Duchesses, on the upper, covered with standards - the Emperor and Empress.

I was surprised by the size of the oak coffins, which would be more correctly called arks: their length was 1.2 m and height about 0.5 m. All of them were decorated with Orthodox eight-pointed crosses, only the coffin of the Catholic A.E. Troupe had a Catholic cross, and the ark of Nicholas II, they laid not a brass cross, like the others, but a cypress cross and attached a model of an officer’s saber with a scabbard of the 1909 model, which corresponded to the ceremony of an officer’s, but not an imperial funeral.

Until the last moment, everyone was waiting to see whether the President of Russia and the Patriarch would come to the funeral. Boris Yeltsin took part in the ceremony because academician Dmitry Likhachev convinced him to do so. The appearance of the country's first person in the Peter and Paul Cathedral, literally in last minute, gave the funeral the status of a state act, but made the work of those responsible for security very difficult. We had to take appropriate measures: snipers appeared on the roofs.

With his arrival, Boris Yeltsin somewhat changed the program of the ceremony in the cathedral, giving a speech in which, in particular, he said, without remembering the names of those who were interred: “We are obliged to end the century, which has become for Russia a century of blood and lawlessness, with repentance and reconciliation.”

The priests who conducted the funeral service in the cathedral and said that God knows them also did not name the names of those buried. Patriarch Alexy II did not take part in the ceremony, but gave his blessing on this day “archpastors and pastors of the church to perform memorial services in memory of the murdered emperor.”

Prince Nikolai Romanov, who led the delegation of relatives and recognized the authenticity of the remains, said that those who missed the ceremony would later regret it. There were some protesters against the funeral, but they were not even allowed onto the Ioannovsky Bridge, leading to the fortress from Trinity Square. At that time I was already working in a museum and I remember how for several days I had to go to work through a gauntlet of rather aggressive demonstrators...

The temporary tombstone and memorial plaques with epitaphs dedicated to those executed in the basement of the Ipatiev House on the night of July 17, 1918, were eventually replaced with permanent ones made of Italian marble. On two plaques dedicated to Tsarevich Alexei and Grand Duchess Maria, whose remains were not discovered in the 1990s, information about the burial place was covered with an insert.

The attitude towards the burial in the Catherine's chapel among visitors to the cathedral remains quite complex. For some, this is a place of worship (they say that miracles happen here after prayer), for others, it is nothing more than an interesting excursion site. And some are completely negative towards him.

At one time it seemed to many that the funeral on July 17, 1998 put an end to the long discussions about the confrontation existing in society, but it turned out that it was not put to rest today. There were hopes that on the 100th anniversary of the execution, a final joint answer from the secular and spiritual authorities would finally be given: who is buried in the Peter and Paul Fortress - the unknown “Ekaterinburg remains” or really members of the last Russian imperial family? But for now this question remains hanging in the air.

Comments

Most read

The battle buried the great-power dreams of Charles XII.

“A rebellious, free spirit lived in her dances,” wrote Leningradskaya Pravda.

The inscriptions on the seat of the stool helped reveal the course of history.

A huge colored panel “Train on the Way”, measuring four by six meters, was presented by activist workers of the women’s council of the Shepetivka railway depot.

For example, Pudost travertine was used in the construction of the Peter and Paul Fortress, royal palaces in St. Petersburg and country residences.

At 18 Bolshaya Porokhovskaya Street there is a stone mansion in the northern modern style, fashionable for the 20th century. Let's take a closer look at it.

In 1979, a group of enthusiasts discovered the place where the Bolsheviks hid the bodies of Nicholas II of his relatives and servants

Change text size: A A

Almost 100 years ago, on the night of July 16-17, the Bolsheviks shot the last Russian Emperor Nicholas II, his family and four servants in Yekaterinburg. Since the whites were approaching the city at that moment, the Bolsheviks hastened to hide traces of the crime. They took the bodies of those killed outside Yekaterinburg and buried them, leaving no identifying marks. Only a few in the entire country knew where exactly to look for the royal remains. In 1979, a group of six enthusiasts found a burial place in secret from the Soviet authorities. One of them is geophysicist Gennady Vasiliev. On the 100th anniversary, the 71-year-old scientist flew from Yaroslavl to Yekaterinburg to once again visit the place where the remains of the Romanovs were found.

"THE PLACE WAS DESCRIBED IN THE LETTER OF THE KINGKILLER"

Now the burial place of the royal family is well known - this is Porosenkov Log on the northern outskirts of Yekaterinburg. The village of Shuvakish is nearby, and the railway runs nearby. A huge cross and several memorial stones remind us that the remains of the Romanovs were found here.

“This place looked different at that time.” There was a clear clearing surrounded by trees. There is a swamp and a stream nearby,” recalls Gennady Vasiliev. “I’m not sure that we would have found the Romanovs if there were thickets like they are now.”

Two people organized the search: Soviet film director Geliy Ryabov and Ural geologist Alexander Avdonin.

“They were very interested in the topic of the Romanovs, and someone once told Helium that the daughter of Yakov Yurovsky, one of the participants in the execution, was still alive,” continues Vasiliev. – Helium visited her in Leningrad, then contacted her brother, from whom he found a note from their father. In it, Yakov Yurovsky described in detail everything that happened in Yekaterinburg in July 1918: from the execution in Ipatiev’s house to the burial of the bodies of the Royal Family.

The note also contained signs of the place where the remains of the Romanovs were buried. Geliy Ryabov contacted his friend geologist Alexander Avdonin in Sverdlovsk and asked him to check this place.

– Avdonin and his assistant Mikhail Kochurov walked along Porsenkovogo Log, sticking a probe into the ground, and found sleepers in one place at a depth of 20 centimeters. Everything is as Yurovsky wrote,” says the scientist. “Then it was decided to carry out excavations. Avdonin called me as his student. Geliy Ryabov also arrived. Another guy I knew from Moscow, a military pilot, was invited as labor force. And there were two women with us - the wives of Ryabov and Avdonin. And so on June 1, 1979, the six of us went to Porosenkov Log to dig up the royal bodies.

“WE WAS AFRAID THAT THEY WOULD BE LOCKED IN A MADNESS HOUSE”

The plan was simple: dig the sleepers out of the ground and see if the remains of the Royal Family really lay underneath them. The enthusiasts did not intend to remove the bones, they just wanted to make sure that they had definitely found the place where the Bolsheviks hid Nicholas II with his relatives and servants.

– We were very afraid. The heyday Soviet power. If we had found the remains of the Royal Family, we would have witnessed a crime against the state. Nicholas II was killed without trial! – explains Gennady Vasiliev. - Geliy Ryabov then warned us: “If someone finds out about what we are doing here, then they will not kill us, they will not imprison us, but they will send us to a madhouse.”

So they decided to play it safe and came up with a legend. If someone suddenly found them with shovels over the burial site of the king, amateur archaeologists would report that they were simply looking for metal.

“I was then working at the Ural Geophysical Expedition enterprise and drew up a fake production assignment for myself. I sent myself on a search iron ores to the Shuvakish area,” laughs Gennady Vasiliev. “I took this certificate with me to show anyone who would be interested in what we forgot here.”

However, the search engines were still afraid that the KGB already knew about their plans. Here, no certificate would help them.

“When we were traveling by train to the excavation site, everyone was in a state of fear. We constantly looked around, maybe someone was casting sidelong glances at us, watching us,” the man recalls. “Then, when we got to the station, we agreed, everyone walks along the sleepers, and I lag behind and move along the side of the road to the side, and look to see if there is a “tail” behind us.

Of course, no one was watching them. And during the entire excavation they did not meet any people, except for the shepherd who drove a herd of cows past the royal grave.

« WE SWORN TO SILENCE»

– We were there at 10.00. They removed the sleepers and started digging. The soil was wet. The pit immediately filled with clayey slurry, which was up to our ankles,” says Gennady Vasiliev. “I use a shovel to pry up something black, like a piece of iron.” The shape resembles a ball joint from a car. I hit it with a shovel, and instead of a ringing suddenly there was a dull thud. Bone! And immediately the first thought: “We must run away.” We found what we were looking for. Since the bone is here, it means that the Romanovs were definitely buried here. We were afraid that someone would catch us.

But Geliy Ryabov insisted on continuing the excavations. They ended up removing three human skulls from the ground.

“A stream ran ten meters away. We washed the skulls in it. We look into one of them, and there is a whole brain there. It has remained intact, despite the fact that 61 years have passed since his death! – recalls Gennady Vasiliev. – This happens to bodies when they lie in a place closed from air. Soft tissues turn into fat wax. When other remains were taken out in 1991, Dr. Botkin’s hip part was also preserved - it was covered with this fat wax.

Nicholas II and his wife at a costume ball in St. Petersburg in 1903. Photo: project "Tragedy of the Family... Tragedy of the Motherland...", Sverdlovsk Regional local history museum named after O.E. Claire

By evening, it was decided to stop the excavations. They buried the hole and planted a bush on top, which was supposed to serve as a guide in the future. And under a nearby tree, the geologists hid a note with their names to ensure their fame as discoverers.

“That’s how it happened with the skulls.” Avdonin kept one. And Geliy Ryabov took the other two to Moscow, so that there, in the laboratory, specialists could use them to reconstruct the appearance of murdered people. But he was refused. They demanded that he formally apply. And it was risky,” sighs Gennady Vasiliev. “As a result, the next year we put these three skulls in a box and returned them to where we found them. A bronze icon with the inscription “Those who endure to the end will be saved” was placed in a box there. This is from the Gospel. Then we swore that we would remain silent about our discovery.

YELTSIN HELPED CONDUCT THE EXCAVATIONS

Once a year, participants in the excavations met at the grave of the Royal Family. And in 1990, when the USSR was dying out recent years, they finally found a way to conduct official excavations.

– We got through to Boris Yeltsin, Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR, and asked for a meeting. We arrived in Moscow. Me and Avdonin. Yeltsin was busy, but his assistant, Viktor Ilyushin (headed the secretariat of the Chairman of the Supreme Council of the RSFSR - ed.) received us. We told him that we wanted an official opening of the burial. He immediately dialed Eduard Rossel, who was then the chairman of the Sverdlovsk Regional Executive Committee. And things started to get complicated.

In total, the remains of nine bodies were discovered at the site where excavations took place in 1979. Although it was known that the Bolsheviks killed 11 people in Ipatiev’s house. The remains of two more people, Tsarevich Alexei and Grand Duchess Maria, were found only in 2007, 30 meters from the first burial. According to one version, the Bolsheviks specially made a separate burial for them, so that based on the number of bodies dumped in one grave, no one would guess that they had stumbled upon the royal remains.