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Were they telling the truth? Romanovs: The Missing Bodies, National Geographic 2010 As the smoke cleared, the myth began. , 3 (16)/VII 1918 II . Prince Andrew Romanoff (born Andrew Andreevich Romanov; 21 January 1923 - 28 November 2021), a grand-nephew of Nicholas II, and a great-great-grandson of Nicholas I, was the Head of the House of . But when the corpses were later moved and given a proper burial, the bodies of the son, Alexei, and the princess Anastasia were missing. 137, Lenin, Stalin, and Hitler: The Age of Social Catastrophe, "No proof Lenin ordered last Tsar's murder", " . Yurovsky also seized several horse-drawn carts to be used in the removal of the bodies to the new site. [19], According to the official state version of the Soviet Union, ex-Tsar Nicholas Romanov, along with members of his family and retinue, were executed by firing squad by order of the Ural Regional Soviet. The Romanov family, headed by Tsar Nicolas II, his wife Alexandra, their five children and their last remaining servants, were executed in the first hours of July 17, 1918, in the cellar of the Ipatiev House in the Siberian town of Ekaterinburg, where they had been held for 78 days. The state also remained aloof from the celebration, as President Vladimir Putin considers Nicholas II a weak ruler.[190]. Everything was packed into the Romanovs' own trunks for dispatch to Moscow under escort by commissars. Their ten servants were dismissed, and they had to give up butter and coffee.[30]. In fact, another team had dug at the same spot. Under the dome of St. Isaac's Cathedral in Russia's former imperial capital city, Grand Duke George Mikhailovich Romanov, 40, married his Italian bride, Victoria Romanovna Bettarini, 39, in an. He ordered additional trucks to be sent out to Koptyaki whilst assigning Pyotr Voykov to obtain barrels of petrol, kerosene and sulphuric acid, and plenty of dry firewood. . Among them were burned bone fragments, congealed fat,[128] Dr Botkin's upper dentures and glasses, corset stays, insignias and belt buckles, shoes, keys, pearls and diamonds,[9] a few spent bullets, and part of a severed female finger. Scroll to 23.07. And in 2018, as the country was preparing to commemorate the 100th anniversary of their deaths, Russian investigators announced that further DNA testing confirmed that the. The Bolsheviks initially announced only Nicholas's death;[6][7] for the next eight years,[8] the Soviet leadership maintained a systematic web of misinformation relating to the fate of the family,[9] from claiming in September 1919 that they were murdered by left-wing revolutionaries,[10] to denying outright in April 1922 that they were dead. In 2007, a second, smaller grave which contained the remains of the two Romanov children missing from the larger grave, was discovered by amateur archaeologists; . Tiny statistical margins of error in identification had sparked "huge doubts and many disputes". [176][162], The remaining two bodies of Alexei and one of his sisters, presumed to be Maria by Russian anthropologists and Anastasia by American ones, were discovered in 2007. He returned to the Amerikanskaya Hotel to confer with the Cheka. [134], His preliminary report was published in a book that same year in French and then Russian. DNA samples confirmed their identity - with the Duke of Edinburgh, who is related to the Russian royal family, giving a sample. [16] Boris Yeltsin and his wife attended the funeral along with Romanov relations, including Prince Michael of Kent. [9], In 1979, amateur sleuth Alexander Avdonin discovered the burial site. Although official Soviet accounts place the responsibility for the decision with the Uralispolkom, an entry in Leon Trotsky's diary reportedly suggested that the order had been given by Lenin himself. [16] In 2007, a second, smaller grave which contained the remains of the two Romanov children missing from the larger grave, was discovered by amateur archaeologists;[17][13] they were confirmed to be the remains of Alexei and a sistereither Anastasia or Mariaby DNA analysis. [11] He wrongly concluded that the prisoners died instantly from the shooting, with the exception of Alexei and Anastasia, who were shot and bayoneted to death,[136] and that the bodies were destroyed in a massive bonfire. That year, the grave where the Romanovs' bodies had been dumped was found and excavated in the Koptyaki Forest outside Ekaterinburg. On 1 March 1918, the family was placed on soldiers' rations. [112] Yurovsky maintained control of the situation with great difficulty, eventually getting Ermakov's men to shift some of the bodies from the truck onto the carts. The skeletons were numbered one through nine. After the family was murdered, Anna, a close friend of the royal family, was able to flee Soviet Russia with six . Proceedings of the government commission to study issues related to the study and reburial of the remains of the Russian Emperor Nicholas II and his family). In 2007 the two missing bodies were found, and soon afterward they were identified as Alexis and probably Maria. [5], On 16 July, Yurovsky was informed by the Ural Soviets that Red Army contingents were retreating in all directions and the executions could not be delayed any longer. This enabled them to identify that nine people were buried in the grave. 134, : , 1926. Lenin saw the House of Romanov as "monarchist filth, a 300-year disgrace",[156] and referred to Nicholas II in conversation and in his writings as "the most evil enemy of the Russian people, a bloody executioner, an Asiatic gendarme" and "a crowned robber. [#1] [65] These fabricated letters, along with the Romanov responses to them (written on either blank spaces or the envelopes),[66] provided the Central Executive Committee (CEC) in Moscow with further justification to 'liquidate' the imperial family. Sokolov's report was banned. Investigators turned to the remains of the Tsars brother, George, and extracted a DNA sample. out of the jurisdiction of Yekaterinburg and Perm province). They packed up, leaving behind an 8-metre- square area of ground. [104] Stepan Vaganov, Ermakov's close associate,[151] was attacked and killed by peasants in late 1918 for his participation in local acts of brutal repression by the Cheka. The destruction of the house did not stop pilgrims or monarchists from visiting the site. And 75 years . What? mtDNA. Following the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II, he and his wife, Alexandra, and their five children were eventually exiled to the city of Yekaterinburg. As well as bone fragments, his team found pieces of Japanese ceramic bottles - used to carry sulphuric acid poured on the Romanovs' corpses. Yurovsky was furious when he discovered that the drunken Ermakov had brought only one shovel for the burial. Alexey Kabanov, who ran onto the street to check the noise levels, heard dogs barking from the Romanovs' quarters and the sound of gunshots loud and clear despite the noise from the Fiat's engine. . Mr Plotnikov believes Russia's turbulent history has achieved a rare moment of closure. [14][142] Although criminal investigators and geneticists identified them as Alexei and one of his sisters, either Maria or Anastasia,[143] they remain stored in the state archives pending a decision from the church,[144] which demanded a more "thorough and detailed" examination. It is a mystery that has baffled historians for decades. The long-running murder case had been closed in 1998, after DNA tests authenticated the Romanov remains found in a mass grave in the Urals in 1991. . What we dug up was in a very bad state. [12] Various Romanov impostors claimed to be members of the Romanov family, which drew media attention away from activities of Soviet Russia. Save up to 70% off the cover price when you subscribe to Discover magazine. Pinterest. [ Racist Trump diehard loses job after degrading rant ] Many people believed Grand Duchess Anastasia,. p. 220. That meant the Empress and three of her daughters were indeed buried in the mass grave. "There was a crunching sound," he said yesterday." In 1979, a geologist in Russia approached a grassy area near the Koptyaki forest. Mariya Starodumova, Evdokiya Semenova, Varvara Dryagina, and an. One would have been the young boy . Leonid was kept in the Popov House that night. Romanovs: Missing Bodies Dr. Michael Coble is an associate professor and associate director of the Center for Human Recognition at the University of North Texas Health Sciences Center in Fort Worth, Texas. The family was imprisoned with a few remaining retainers in Yekaterinburg's Ipatiev House, which was designated The House of Special Purpose (Russian: ). National Geographic - Romanovs - The Missing Bodies part 1 - YouTube National Geographic - Romanovs - The Missing Bodies National Geographic - Romanovs - The Missing Bodies. But two of the Romanovs were never found. A comparison of profiles between mother and child In fact, they had been discovered by amateur historians led by Alexander Avdonin and Geli Ryabov in 1979. That was until last month when Sergei Plotnikov, a 46-year-old builder, stumbled on a small hollow covered with nettles. Two bodies of the family were missing, so this lead to the escape theory. The execution and disposal of the remains of Russia's last royal family, the Romanovs, remains one of the most macabre chapters in Russia's bloody history. When the mass grave was discovered in the early 1990s, the hospital gave researchers the tissue sample so they could determine whether Anderson was telling the truth. They must have been, and Maria could not have such bras, as they were made in Tobolsk when she was gone, to think that these bras were worn by someone else It would be ridiculous. He was part of the group of investigators of the Romanovs: Missing Bodies case in which the following happened: In the summer of 2007, a team of amateur archaeologists discovered a collection of remains from a second grave about 70 meters from the larger one. He seized a truck which he had loaded with blocks of concrete for attaching to the bodies before submerging them in the new mineshaft. The DNA tests revealed that skeletons four and seven were the parents of skeletons three, five and six. Kabanov then hurried downstairs and told the men to stop firing and kill the family and their dogs with their gun butts and bayonets. This enabled them to identify that nine people were buried in the grave. Ilyich [Lenin] believed that we shouldn't leave the Whites a live banner to rally around, especially under the present difficult circumstances."[24]. Until 1989, it was the only accepted historical account of the murders. On 1 October 2008, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation ruled that Nicholas II and his family were victims of political repression and rehabilitated them. It's an ordinary looking place not far from the main road.". [78] There is no documentary record of an answer from Moscow, although Yurovsky insisted that an order from the CEC to go ahead had been passed on to him by Goloshchyokin at around 7 pm. [121], During transportation to the deeper copper mines on the early morning of 19 July, the Fiat truck carrying the bodies got stuck again in mud near Porosenkov Log ("Piglet's Ravine"). [47] The guards were allowed to bring in women for sex and drinking sessions in the Popov House and basement rooms of the Ipatiev House. The basement where the Romanov family was killed. [29], In August 1917, after a failed attempt to send the Romanovs to the United Kingdom, where the ruling monarch was Nicholas and his wife Alexandra's mutual first cousin, King George V, Alexander Kerensky's provisional government evacuated the Romanovs to Tobolsk, Siberia, allegedly to protect them from the rising tide of revolution. Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh and husband of Queen Elizabeth, was also a direct descendent and he agreed to supply a DNA sample. Dmitry Shlapentokh. [32] The lavatory on the landing was also used by the guards, who scribbled political slogans and crude graffiti on the walls. Posted in . "What about it?" Most of these rare and relatively intimate pictures of the Imperial Romanov family were taken by the head of the family and Russia's last tsar himself, Nicholas II. [51] In mid-June, nuns from the Novo-Tikhvinsky Monastery also brought the family food on a daily basis, most of which the captors took when it arrived. 42: . As soon as the Czechoslovaks seized Yekaterinburg, his apartment was pillaged. The local Cheka chose replacements from the volunteer battalions of the Verkh-Isetsk factory at Yurovsky's request. [4] The bodies were taken to the Koptyaki forest, where they were stripped, buried, and mutilated with grenades to prevent identification. . IT WAS a lady-in-waiting to the Russian royal family, Grand Duchess Anastasia Nicholaevna, who caused most trouble for the Bolshevik killers when they came calling on 18 July 1918. The study involved the main experts on the subject historians and archivists. An extensive report carried out by a criminal investigator named Nikolai Sokolov concluded that the Romanovs had been cremated at the mine. Could anyone really have escaped this carnage? Want to make creations as awesome as this one? The external guard, led by Pavel Medvedev, numbered 56 and took over the Popov House opposite. I found this very interested and insightful. Two of the childrenlikely Maria and Alexeiwere burned and the remnants of their bodies buried in another, separate grave nearby. Bianca Perez Forensic 1 P.3 The Romanovs: The Missing Bodies|National Geographic Notes: loc: Siberia, Russia The Romanovs the No excursions to Divine Liturgy at the nearby church were permitted. Gerard Shelley. [95] Ermakov shot and stabbed him, and when that failed, Yurovsky shoved him aside and killed the boy with a gunshot to the head. They resulte Romanovs: The Missing Bodies | National Geographic. Nicholas was forbidden to wear epaulettes, and the sentries scrawled lewd drawings on the fence to offend his daughters. There are lingering questions, however, as to why this latest dig apparently succeeded when numerous others had failed. This intriguing documentary picked up the story as experts, including forensic anthropologist and 9/11 investigator Anthony Falsetti and Chief Scientist of the US Armed Forces DNA Laboratory Dr Michael Coble, tested and analyzed the bones in the hope that they could solve the Romanov riddle once and for all. a state body, says new checks are needed in . Amikor a bolsevikok 1918 mjusban lelttk II. "notfound", "Yurovsky Note 1922 English Blog & Alexander Palace Time Machine", "Bones found by Russian builder finally solve riddle of the missing Romanovs", "Treasures and Trivia of the Romanov Era", "Mystery solved: the identification of the two missing Romanov children using DNA analysis", , "About the team of the executioners of the royal family and its ethnic composition", "Tsar Nicholas exhibits from an execution", "Murder of the Imperial Family Yurovsky Note 1922 English", "Nicholas II And Family Canonized For 'Passion', "Russia: Inquiry Into Czar's Killing Is Reopened", "Russia readies to exhume Tsar Alexander III in Romanov probe", "Russia exhumes bones of murdered Tsar Nicholas and wife", "New DNA tests establish remains of Tsar Nicholas II and wife are authentic", "Russia says DNA tests confirm remains of country's last tsar are", "DNA Testing Verifies Bones of Russia's Last Tsar", " ", Bibliography of Russian history (16131917), In the Lands of the Romanovs: An Annotated Bibliography of First-hand English-language Accounts of the Russian Empire (16131917), Shooting of Nicholas II of Russia and his family, Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna of Russia, Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia, Anti-religious campaign during the Russian Civil War, Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral, Saint Petersburg, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Murder_of_the_Romanov_family&oldid=1141482715, Articles with Russian-language sources (ru), Short description is different from Wikidata, Wikipedia indefinitely move-protected pages, Pages using multiple image with auto scaled images, Articles containing Russian-language text, Articles with unsourced statements from December 2021, Articles containing potentially dated statements from 2011, All articles containing potentially dated statements, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0. [11] The Soviet cover-up of the murders fuelled rumors of survivors. During the Bolshevik revolution, the Romanov dynasty was killed after over a hundred-year reign in Russia. [22][23] This is supported by a passage in Leon Trotsky's diary. They expected to be part of the lynch mob. Voykov served as Soviet ambassador to Poland in 1924, where he was assassinated by a Russian monarchist in July 1927. [170] In July 1991, the bodies of five family members (the Tsar, Tsarina, and three of their daughters) were exhumed. Watch. In this documentary, we look at one of the most peculiar stories of civilizational surviva We're committed to providing the best documentaries from around the World. One of the greatest mysteries for most of the twentieth century was the fate of the Romanov family, the last Russian monarchy. [14] The identity of the remains was later confirmed by forensic and DNA analysis and investigation, with the assistance of British experts. Perry, John Curtis, and Constantine V. Pleshakov. The attempted looting, coupled with Ermakov's incompetence and drunken state, convinced Yurovsky to oversee the disposal of the bodies himself. On July 17 1918, Nicholas, his wife, Alexandra, their children, doctor and three servants were woken and killed. [117] Yurovsky, worried that he might not have enough time to take the bodies to the deeper mine, ordered his men to dig another burial pit then and there, but the ground was too hard. [49] Recreation was allowed only twice daily in the garden, for half an hour morning and afternoon. He was waiting to see my reaction. [65] On 13 July, across the road from the Ipatiev House, a demonstration of Red Army soldiers, Socialist Revolutionaries, and anarchists was staged on Voznesensky Square, demanding the dismissal of the Yekaterinburg Soviet and the transfer of control of the city to them. [156] Lenin operated with extreme caution, his favored method being to issue instructions in coded telegrams, insisting that the original and even the telegraph ribbon on which it was sent be destroyed. 1941. The Red Army was secretive about the executions, and the ruling Communist party didnt permit inquiries into the historic event. Fearing how the Soviet government might react, the finders hid the information until things changed. In 2007, bone fragments were found in a shallow grave 70 meters away from the original 1979 discovery site. "All of them?" . Instead, her DNA matched with the Schanzkowska family. The bodies of the tsar's heir, Prince Alexei, and his sister Princess Maria were missing. In 2007, bone fragments were found in a shallow grave 70 meters away from the original 1979 discovery site. On 17 July 1918, Yakov and other Bolshevik jailers, fearing that the Legion would free Nicholas after conquering the town, murdered him and his family. There was little doubt that the remains were those of the Romanov children, Sergei Pogorelov, deputy director of the Sverdlovsk region's archaeological institute, said. An insatiable photographer, the tsar took great care of his pictures, filing them . [87] Yurovsky's assistant Grigory Nikulin remarked to him that the "heir wanted to die in a chair. The case, however, was still open. This documentary focuses on those bone fragments, and whether they are related to the Romanov family. [34] The imperial family was subjected to regular searches of their belongings, confiscation of their money for "safekeeping by the Ural Regional Soviet's treasurer",[35] and attempts to remove Alexandra's and her daughters' gold bracelets from their wrists. The engagement ring hasnt always been what it is today. [160][161] Soviet historiography portrayed Nicholas as a weak and incompetent leader whose decisions led to military defeats and the deaths of millions of his subjects,[162] while Lenin's reputation was protected at all costs, thus ensuring that no discredit was brought on him; responsibility for the 'liquidation' of the Romanov family was directed at the Ural Soviets and Yekaterinburg Cheka. czar of Russia, following a fifteen-year Four Great Megacities Of The Ancient World, Behind the Scenes of the First Excavation of Pompeii in 70 Years, How Christianity Divided the Roman Empire, Weird History of Dog Poop The Secret Ingredient in Victorian Leather, Weirdest and Most Brutal Ways of Torture in History, Opium Wars How they Defined Relations Between China and Europe. Yurovsky saw this and demanded that they surrender any looted items or be shot. Researchers suspected that they could be the lost remains of the Romanov children, 13-year-old heir Prince Alexei, and either Grand Duchess Maria or grand Duchess Anastasia. [60], When Yurovsky replaced Aleksandr Avdeev on 4 July,[61] he moved the old internal guard members to the Popov House. [92] Within minutes, Yurovsky was forced to stop the shooting because of the caustic smoke of burned gunpowder, dust from the plaster ceiling caused by the reverberation of bullets, and the deafening gunshots. What happened to the missing Romanov children? [79] At 8 pm, Yurovsky sent his chauffeur to acquire a truck for transporting the bodies, along with rolls of canvas to wrap them in. Today. The remains of Nicholas, Alexandra and three of their daughters Anastasia, Olga. And in 2018, as the country was preparing to commemorate the 100th anniversary of their deaths, Russian investigators announced that further DNA testing confirmed that the remains were indeed authentic Now they knew for certain all the Romanovs died during the shocking execution. . / : II / . . Romanov family shrouded in mystery Nicholas II, his German-born wife Alexandra Feodorovna, and their five children, Anastasia, Maria, Tatiana, Olga and Alexei, were executed by the Bolsheviks in. History reports that between 1918 and 1928, half a dozen women publicly claimed to be the missing Romanov daughter. It was found by White investigator Nikolai Sokolov and reads:[106], Inform Sverdlov the whole family have shared the same fate as the head. The Romanov family were dug up in 1991, formally identified using DNA samples, and reburied in a St Petersburg cathedral. But two of the Romanovs were never found. In the deserts of Jordan, a city lies hidden for centuries in a valley of rose-red stone. They then retrieved the royal bodies, burned and doused them with acid, and buried them in a pit. Genealogists were able to identify two distant relatives. [56] The following morning, four housemaids were hired to wash the floors of the Popov House and Ipatiev House; they were the last civilians to see the family alive. What happened to the missing bodies of the Romanov family? [163] Sverdlov granted permission for the local paper in Yekaterinburg to publish the "Execution of Nicholas, the Bloody Crowned Murderer Shot without Bourgeois Formalities but in Accordance with our new democratic principles",[110] along with the coda that "the wife and son of Nicholas Romanov have been sent to a safe place". [50] Rations were mostly tea and black bread for breakfast, and cutlets or soup with meat for lunch; the prisoners were informed that "they were no longer permitted to live like tsars". 1939. [114] Yurovsky's men ate hardboiled eggs supplied by the local nuns (food that was meant for the imperial family), while the remainder of Ermakov's men were ordered back to the city as Yurovsky did not trust them and was displeased with their drunkenness. It transpired that Yurovsky and his men had returned to the first burial site the night after the execution. [62], In mid-July 1918, forces of the Czechoslovak Legion were closing on Yekaterinburg, to protect the Trans-Siberian Railway, of which they had control. To confirm that the bodies belonged to the Royal Romanov family, DNA from the living members of the lineage were used to cross-verify the claims. [188] There is a widespread legend that the remains of the Romanovs were completely destroyed at the Ganina Yama during the ritual murder and a profitable pilgrimage business developed there. lena knows kara is supergirl fanfic romanovs: the missing bodies. This rebellion was violently suppressed by a detachment of Red Guards led by Peter Ermakov, which opened fire on the protesters, all within earshot of the tsar and tsarina's bedroom window. There were missing bodies, long thought to have been murdered during the Russian Revolution. Michael's grandson Peter I, who established the Russian Empire in 1721, transformed the country into a great power through a series of wars and reforms. In 2007, bone fragments were found in a shallow grave 70 meters away from the original 1979 discovery site. [104], The White Army investigator Nikolai Sokolov erroneously claimed that the executions of the Imperial Family was carried out by a group of "Latvians led by a Jew". [178][179] The rehabilitation was denounced by the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, vowing the decision will "sooner or later be corrected". the 16th and 17th century. The Romanovs were a high-ranking family in Russia during the 16th and 17th century. It was a mystery that baffled historians for decades: what really became of the missing members of the royal Romanov family, long thought to have been murdered during the Russian revolution? In total, 11 bodies were identified: the seven Romanovs, their doctor and three servants. [40] Their only source of ventilation was a fortochka in the grand duchesses' bedroom, but peeking out of it was strictly forbidden; in May a sentry fired a shot at Anastasia when she looked out. Czar Nicholas II was the last Romanov. We found several bone fragments. Historians long suspected that four servants had been buried along with the royal family. "And the family with him." The Romanovs' bodies were thrown down a mineshaft, only to be retrieved, burned and buried near a cart track. [80] Yurovsky saw no reason to kill him and wanted him removed before the execution took place.[78]. [99] While the bodies were being placed on stretchers, one of the girls cried out (some accounts say two or more) and covered her face with her arm. The Biographical Chronicle of Lenin's political life confirms that first Lenin (between 6 and 7 pm) and then Lenin and Sverdlov together (between 9:30 and 11:50 pm) had direct telegraph contact with the Ural Soviets about Yakovlev's change of route. Prior to his death, he donated the guns he used in the murders to the Museum of the Revolution in Moscow,[66] and left behind three valuable, though contradictory, accounts of the event. Relatives of the Romanovs also said it was too early to draw firm conclusions. [126], Ivan Plotnikov, history professor at the Maksim Gorky Ural State University, has established that the executioners were Yakov Yurovsky, Grigory P. Nikulin, Mikhail A. Medvedev (Kuprin), Peter Ermakov, Stepan Vaganov, Alexey G. Kabanov (former soldier in the Tsar's Life Guards and Chekist assigned to the attic machine gun),[45] Pavel Medvedev, V. N. Netrebin, and Y. M. Tselms. Two were brought down. Therefore, the found remains of the martyrs, as well as the place of their burial in the Porosyonkov Log, are ignored. [83] Neither Yurovsky nor any of the killers went into the logistics of how to efficiently destroy eleven bodies. Yesterday Russian archaeologists confirmed they had discovered the remains of a 10-13 year old boy and an 18-23 year old woman - presumed to be Prince Alexei and Grand Duchess Maria. Seven years later, five skeletons were found in a forest near Ekaterinburg, soon . In 2007, bone fragments were found in a shallow grave 70 meters away from the original 1979 . [122] Leonid Brezhnev's Politburo deemed the Ipatiev House lacking "sufficient historical significance" and it was demolished in September 1977 by KGB chairman Yuri Andropov,[138] less than a year before the sixtieth anniversary of the murders. One was the Tsars great niece, and the second was a Duke in Scotland. [174] As a result, when they were interred in July 1998, they were referred to by the priest conducting the service as "Christian victims of the Revolution" rather than the imperial family. We shouted over to the archaeologists. The Legions arrived less than a week later and on 25 July captured the city. The next day, Yakov departed for Moscow with a report to Sverdlov. [68], The Ural Regional Soviet agreed in a meeting on 29 June that the Romanov family should be executed. These men were all intoxicated and they were outraged that the prisoners were not brought to them alive. Were all the Romanovs killed? The mtDNA test proved Anderson was a fraud. [41] After the Romanovs made repeated requests, one of the two windows in the tsar and tsarina's corner bedroom was unsealed on 23 June 1918. [119], Sergey Chutskaev[ru] of the local Soviet told Yurovsky of some deeper copper mines west of Yekaterinburg, the area remote and swampy and a grave there less likely to be discovered. The execution lasted about 20 minutes, Yurovsky later admitting to Nikulin's "poor mastery of his weapon and inevitable nerves". / : / . [100] After the killings, he was to declare that "The world will never know what we did with them." Only 3% of Russians "were certain that the Royal family's execution was the public's just retribution for the emperor's blunders". [91] The last to die were Tatiana, Anastasia, and Maria, who were carrying a few pounds (over 1.3 kilograms) of diamonds sewn into their clothing, which had given them a degree of protection from the firing.