Sugaree
April 30th, 2008, 06:05 PM
Bones of Last Russian Czar's Children Identified, 90 Years On
By Henry Meyer
April 30 (Bloomberg) -- Ninety years after a Bolshevik firing squad executed Russia's last czar and his family, the remains of Nicholas II's missing son and daughter have been identified.
Forensic tests in the U.S. established that bone fragments discovered last July near the Urals city of Yekaterinburg belong to Czarevich Alexei, heir to the Russian throne, and Grand Duchess Maria, Sverdlovsk Governor Eduard Rossel said today in comments broadcast on state television.
``It's confirmed that it's the children,'' he said. ``We've found the whole family now.''
The latest bones were discovered near the spot where the seven royal family members were shot on July 17, 1918. Nicholas II ruled Russia from 1894 until he was forced to abdicate in March 1917. The family was later sent to the Urals by the provisional government and held after the Bolsheviks seized power in October 1917.
Some of the royal remains were exhumed in 1991 and reburied in the former imperial capital, St. Petersburg, in 1998.
Experts compared the bone fragments against samples taken from nine skeletons uncovered in 1991, including those of the czar, his wife Alexandra and three daughters.
To contact the reporter on this story: Henry Meyer in Moscow at [email protected]
By Henry Meyer
April 30 (Bloomberg) -- Ninety years after a Bolshevik firing squad executed Russia's last czar and his family, the remains of Nicholas II's missing son and daughter have been identified.
Forensic tests in the U.S. established that bone fragments discovered last July near the Urals city of Yekaterinburg belong to Czarevich Alexei, heir to the Russian throne, and Grand Duchess Maria, Sverdlovsk Governor Eduard Rossel said today in comments broadcast on state television.
``It's confirmed that it's the children,'' he said. ``We've found the whole family now.''
The latest bones were discovered near the spot where the seven royal family members were shot on July 17, 1918. Nicholas II ruled Russia from 1894 until he was forced to abdicate in March 1917. The family was later sent to the Urals by the provisional government and held after the Bolsheviks seized power in October 1917.
Some of the royal remains were exhumed in 1991 and reburied in the former imperial capital, St. Petersburg, in 1998.
Experts compared the bone fragments against samples taken from nine skeletons uncovered in 1991, including those of the czar, his wife Alexandra and three daughters.
To contact the reporter on this story: Henry Meyer in Moscow at [email protected]