Russian Federation reopens Tsar Nicolas murder case

Tsar Nicholas II, his wife the Tsarina Alexandra, their four daughters – grand duchesses Olga, Maria, Anastasia and Tatiana – the Tsarevich Alexei, their son and four royal staff members were killed in 1918 in a distant house in Yekaterinburg.

A second grave found in 2007 contained two more bodies, which investigators said they believed to be Alexei and Maria.

Russia plans to rebury Alexei and Maria, alongside the rest of the family, but before the reburial goes ahead, the Russian Orthodox Church wants to verify the remains.

The Russian Orthodox Church requested the newest investigation despite the fact the homicide case was closed in 1998 – in July.

The remains will be subject to genetic testing, Solovyov added, as the powerful investigative committee confirmed the bodies buried in a Saint Petersburg cathedral were being re-examined.

The team were said to have taken samples from the last czar and czarina, having also taken material from the bloodstained uniform of the Nicholas’ father, Alexander II – himself assassinated in 1881. But they haven’t been able to convince the Russian Orthodox Church.

The Romanov dynasty ruled Russian Federation for some 300 years before Nicholas II abdicated in 1917 after the Bolshevik Revolution and ensuing Communist rule.

It’s part of an investigation into the family’s death in 1918 and into confirming the remains really belong to the czar and his wife. “These people have been canonised, and if their remains are found they will be considered holy relics that believers will pray to”. Those who did not die immediately were bayonetted.

The new investigation also involves taking samples from Alexandra’s sister the Grand Duchess Elizabeth Fyodorovna, buried in Jerusalem. But their remains have since been stored at the Russian State Archives, amid doubts over their identity.

Vladimir Putin’s prime minister Dmitry Medvedev has led efforts to give them a civilised burial 97 years after they were shot dead, but this will only now happen after the next forensic tests. The truth must be established in this case, with an answer to the main question: “whose are these remains?”