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Yekaterinburg
remains are those of Tsar Nicholas II’s two children – Russian Prosecutor’s
Office Investigative Committee
The tests carried out on the remains found near
Yekaterinburg last year have been confirmed as those of the two members of the
tsar's family executed by Bolsheviks in 1918 - Crown Prince Alexey and Grand
Princess Maria.
A number of criminal medical and forensic tests have
confirmed that the bodies of a boy aged between 12 and 14 and a young woman
aged between 17 and 19 were burnt, spokesman for the Russian Prosecutor's
Office Investigative Committee Vladimir Markin told Interfax on Tuesday.
"A historical examination is being led by Director of
the Russian State Archive, doctor of historical sciences Sergey Mironenko as
part of this criminal investigation. Among the experts are leading historians
and archivists. Test results confirm the theory suggesting that these are the
remains of the members of the tsar's family," Markin said.
The identification studies included the genetic tests
carried out by experts from the Massachusetts University (U.S.), the U.S. Armed
Forces DNA Identification Laboratory and the Institute for Forensic Medicine in
Innsbruck, Austria.
"All researchers received the DNA of the male and
female genes. Tests were carried out on the mitochondrial and nuclear DNA. The
test results are being assessed by the investigators and will be unveiled in
the second half of July this year," Markin said.
The investigation began after a team of Ural
historians found a second grave with bone fragments of two people 70 kilometers
from where other members of the Tsar Nicholas II's family were buried (the
grave was uncovered in 1991), he said. The newly found remains were believed to
be those of the emperor's son Alexey and daughter Maria who were shot dead in
the Ipatyevs house in Yekaterinburg in the early hours of July 17, 1918.
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