Russia exhumes remains of executed Tsar Nicholas II, wife Alexandra
Almost 100 years after the last tsar and his family were killed, Russian investigators are re-examining the case and exhuming the bodies of Tsar Nicholas II and his wife, Alexandra.
Samples are being taken from both the tsar and his wife as well as the bloodstained uniform of his grandfather, Alexander II, who was killed in 1881, so the Russian Orthodox Church can be certain that remains found in 2007 belong to two of the royal couple's children: Maria and Alexei. Nicholas, Alexandra, Alexei, Maria, and the three other grand duchesses — Anastasia, Olga, and Tatiana — were executed along with four royal staff members by the Bolsheviks in the cellar of a home in Yekaterinburg in 1918; those who weren't killed by the bullets from a firing squad were hit with bayonets.
In 1991, the remains of all but Maria and Alexei were found in a mass grave in the Urals, and in 1998, DNA proved their identities. Maria and Alexei were discovered in a different spot in the Urals in 2007, and before they can be buried with the rest of their relatives at St. Petersburg's Peter and Paul Cathedral, the Orthodox Church wants them to be authenticated once more by DNA, the BBC reports. The tsar, Alexandra, Anastasia, Olga, and Tatiana were formally canonized by the Orthodox Church in 2000, and Alexei and Maria — whose remains are now with the Russian State Archives — will likely be canonized before 2018, the 100th anniversary of their death.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
5 blustery cartoons about the Stormy Daniels testimony
Cartoons Artists take on gag orders, lurid details, and more
By The Week US Published
-
The Idea of You review: 'impossible escapism' starring Anne Hathaway
The Week Recommends Steamy romcom about a 40-year-old who falls for a boy band singer
By The Week UK Published
-
Crossword: May 11, 2024
The Week's daily crossword
By The Week Staff Published
-
Puffed rice and yoga: inside the collapsed tunnel where Indian workers await rescue
Speed Read Workers trapped in collapsed tunnel are suffering from dysentery and anxiety over their rescue
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
More than 2,000 dead following massive earthquake in Morocco
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Mexico's next president will almost certainly be its 1st female president
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
North Korea's Kim to visit Putin in eastern Russia to discuss arms sales for Ukraine war, U.S. says
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Gabon's military leader sworn in following coup in latest African uprising
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstances
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governor
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published