ROMANOV HOUSE HOPES DISPUTE OVER TSAR’S FAMILY REMAINS AUTHENTICITY TO BE SETTLED

Interfax-Religion

Russia’s Royal Romanov House said they hope that an inter-agency working group set up by Russian Prime MinisterDmitry Medvedev’s decree will put an end to a long-lasting dispute over the authenticity of the last Tsar’s family remains, including the remains of the children of the last Russian Emperor Nicholas II – Crown Prince Alexey and Grand Duchess Maria, which are being kept at the State Archives.

Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna, who lives in Spain, currently heads the House of Romanov.

“Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna hopes that the research of the Yekaterinburg remains will be thorough, unbiased and all-embracing,” lawyer of the Romanov House German Lukyanov told Interfax on Monday.

“The House of Romanov hopes for a scientific approach to research and that the opinions of all authoritative experts will be heard. Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna hopes that the position of the Russian Orthodox Church will be taken into account in the research, the historical truth and the details of the death of the royal family will be found,” Lukyanov said.

“This is important to take into consideration a resolution adopted by the Presidium of the Russian Supreme Court on October 1, 2008, which was signed by Chief Justice of the Russian Supreme Court Vyacheslav Lebedev on the recognition of Nicholas II and his family as victims of political repressions,” Lukyanov said.

In the past week Medvedev signed a decree setting up an inter-agency working group on the research and reburial of the remains of Crown Prince Alexey and Grand Duchess Maria.

The working group includes chiefs, deputy heads of the specific ministries and agencies, officials of federal executive authorities and the government’s staff, officials of the St. Petersburg government, representatives of public and religious organizations.

Deputy Prime Minister and head of the government’s staff Sergey Prikhodko is appointed as chief of the inter-agency working group.

Presently the remains of Crown Prince Alexey and Grand Duchess Maria are kept at the State Archives.

Romanov representatives are not included in the working group, director of the chancellery of the House of Romanov Alexander Zakatov told Interfax.

“But this is good that such committee was created. We would be able to give assistance to the committee in legal and historical aspects,” Zakatov said.

“This is important that relatives of the imperial family will know about the progress of research of expected remains. And it’s even more important that society will be fully informed about it,” he said.

“It is important not to repeat the mistakes made in the nineties of the previous century, when despite the church’s position the Yekaterinburg remains were buried at the Romanov sepulcher. And this question remains a matter for debate in the society, but not for reconciliation. Yet, the church did not find any reasons to recognize as authentic the remains which were buried at the Peter and Paul Fortress [in St. Petersburg] and those remains which are being kept at the State Archives. The House of Romanov adheres to the church’s position,” Zakatov said.

A grave with nine bodies was found on Staraya Koptyakovskaya Road near Yekaterinburg in July 1991. The remains were identified as those of Emperor Nicholas II, his 46-year-old wife Alexandra Fyodorovna, their daughters Olga, 22, Tatyana, 21, and Anastasia, 17, and their servants Yevgeny Botkin, 53, Anna Demidova, 40, Aloizy Trupp, 62, and Ivan Kharitonov, 48.

Members of the imperial family were buried at a sepulcher of the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg.

The remains of two more people were discovered during archaeological excavation works 70 kilometers south of the first grave on July 26, 2007. The remains have still not been buried, but numerous expert analyses indicate that the remains were most likely those of Crown Prince Alexey and his sister Maria.

The Investigative Committee said in January 2011 that it had completed an investigation into the death of Nicholas II, his family members and entourage and closed the criminal case.

In March 2015, head of the Russian State Archives Sergey Mironenko told Interfax that the remains of Crown Prince Alexey and Grand Duchess Maria should be buried.

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