This week, on the eve of the Council of Bishops, a conference was held at which the results of a new investigation by the Investigative Committee on the shooting of the royal family, which began two years ago with the Church, were presented. And then it was decided to start the whole process from scratch. So, which new results support the previous theories, and which ones refute them or significantly refine them?
To begin with, let's take a look at the temple of worship of Lenin, built back to the 70th anniversary of the revolution, similar to the ritual temples of the Egyptian priests. It was erected at the entrance to the Gorki Leninskiye nature reserve. Inside Vladimir Ilyich, also with a halo. This building turned out to be very useful now - it was here that Lenin's office, removed after the reconstruction of the First Building of the Moscow Kremlin, was placed.
Everything in this office is as it was during the life of Vladimir Ilyich. For example, on the table is a gift from Armand Hammer, a figurine of a monkey. The portrait of Marx is a gift from the Red Army. But there was also such a theory that when photographers came to Lenin's office, he cleared something from the table. Something is the head of Emperor Nicholas II in alcohol. Where could he hide her? Probably under the table. It is clear that there is nothing there now. But did Lenin ever have the severed head of the emperor here?
Do you think we are mocking common sense? But the Church also went on to sort out even the most fantastic theories. So, many thought it was overkill, almost grave-digging, when, at the insistence of the Church, the skull of Alexander III, the father of Nicholas II and the grandfather of the murdered Tsarevich and princesses, was exhumed. What for? Why?
Patriarch Kirill opens a conference of experts: “I myself have a number of difficult questions that I would also like to address to experts.”
Here are experts, sometimes, of course, it is tricky. Take an orthopedic dentist, Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor Vladimir Trezubov: “When determining the age, we used the Chinese song-jia method.”
But soon - a discussion: "Do you know what, in general, is not clear?" A whisper passed through the hall, because this man is Pyotr Multatuli, a descendant of the cook Kharitonov, who was shot together with the royal family. And just a descendant - about the very head of Nicholas II: "Unfortunately, the memoirs of General Maurice Janin were not mentioned, who directly said that the heads were cut off, placed in special boxes with sawdust and taken away in an unknown direction by a certain Apfelbaum."
The logic is this: if the head of Nicholas II was separated from his body, how can you even attribute to him the remains with the head found near Yekaterinburg?
Promotional video:
After Multatuli's speech from the audience - replicas of historians. They say that the testimony of General Janin is very controversial. But the Church has always had questions to the existing skull.
So, 1891. Then the future emperor was in Japan. He is assassinated by the one who entered folklore as a Japanese policeman, hitting him on the head with a saber.
Riddle number one: why was the shirt, the sleeve of which Nikolai wiped off the blood, was not included in the case for the identification of his alleged remains? There's DNA!
Riddle number two: why on the skull of "skeleton number 4", attributed to Nikolai, there were no traces of that blow?
Here is what the previous investigator, Vladimir Soloviev, said: “On this site, a certain thinning of the bone has been preserved. And sulfuric acid acted on her the strongest."
In particular, to solve this mystery, Alexander III was exhumed in the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg, and a DNA sample was sawed off from the skull of Nicholas II.
- What is the result of the comparison?
- I will not say, otherwise they will put me in prison for 5 years, - replies Tikhon Shevkunov, Bishop of Yegoryevsk, vicar of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia.
- Yeah.
- I signed a non-disclosure agreement on information that is not yet allowed to be disclosed by the Investigative Committee.
In general, out of 32 appointed expert examinations, 22 have already been carried out. What confirms the conclusions of the previous investigation, and what refutes them?
The first conclusion of the repeated examination is somewhere sensational. Just about Nikolai's Japanese wound, they searched for it using tomography.
- We are interested in the area in the oval, and on the right side we see two tracks of an oblong shape. If we were asked what they originated from, we would say that these are traces of the action of some oblong object. If we clarified whether it could be from a saber strike, we would say, yes, that it could be, - said Vyacheslav Popov, chairman of the Forensic Medical Association of North-West Russia.
- I'm sorry. I'd like to clarify. Are the old ones in vivo? - said Patriarch Kirill.
- Intravital.
About what there were no disputes, and no? The fact that the abdicated emperor, his family and loved ones were shot in the basement of the Ipatiev house in Yekaterinburg in July 1918, raises doubts only among fans of conspiracy theories. It is a fact. And the existing remains are similar to the victims of that particular execution. This was confirmed by a second examination.
“Of the nine dead, each has a gunshot injury. At least three people were fired two or three shots,”says Vyacheslav Popov.
But the controversy was about what happened after the execution. First, the bodies were taken to the abandoned mine workings in Ganina Yama and they tried to burn something. This was also established by the so-called White Guard investigation. In the 90s, more bones were found here. What kind? There has always been controversy about this.
So, the results of the current examination. “This is most likely a cow. And this is the 6th lumbar vertebra of a sheep. As for the other remains, there were problems. Some of the remains were either radiolucent or radiopaque. This indicates that these are not bones. Six such objects were discovered. As for 58 fragments, the results of the study were discouraging,”said Viktor Zvyagin, professor, head of the forensic identification department of the Russian Center for Forensic Medicine, Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation.
It turned out that all the bones belonged to animals. Most likely, these are the remnants of the feast of the executioners and the funeral team.
The next night, they took the bodies to another place to hide them more reliably, got stuck in the mud and decided to fill the bodies with acid and bury them here: widening the pothole resulting from the slip.
A photograph of the activists of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and the Cheka at the place where, as they later said, they covered the bodies with sleepers before leaving Yekaterinburg under the onslaught of the enemy.
A photograph of the same bridge made of sleepers, which the White Guard investigation discovered, but because of the Red counteroffensive, did not manage to open it. The bridge on the Old Kopyatkovskaya road, in a place called Porosenkov Log, was opened in 91st.
But the way it was opened - fire, barbaric - with the use of exactly what fire brigades, gave rise to problems for many years to come. Including when the investigation was resumed. Why did it resume?
So, before there was evidence that the Bolsheviks, having buried 9 bodies, burned two more. And it was the remains of a fire pit in the forest that were found in 2007. We went there ourselves.
- That place?
- Yes, we are approaching exactly where the excavations took place. To the right are two pits: they burned in one place and buried in another, - says Sergey Pogorelov, deputy head of the archeology department of the Center for the Protection of Monuments of the Sverdlovsk Region.
- That is, Alexey and Maria are here?
- Yes.
- How many meters are obtained from the central burial?
- Exactly 67 meters.
- So close?
Again: a couple of years ago we already showed this safe in the bowels of the State Archives of the Russian Federation, where the remains, as it is believed, of Alexei and Maria, have been kept since then.
“The remains have survived in fragments,” explained Sergei Mironenko, director of the State Archives of the Russian Federation.
- I wanted to ask you, I had a feeling before I came here that we will see skeletons, but this is not …
- The fact is that, as you know, they tried to burn the bodies at the stake.
And on these remains a re-examination was appointed. At the same time, during a new investigation into the fate of the last Romanovs, the TFR and the church decided to practically completely renew the composition of the expert group. And now those who believe that the burial in the Pig's Log is not the right people have gone to them.
- If in almost two days they could not burn the dismembered bodies on Ganina's pit, then how in two hours did they burn down practically the body of the Tsarevich, the so-called body of Tsarevich and Princess Maria Nikolaevna? And then: where are the skulls? - asks Pyotr Multatuli.
- It is very interesting what you said about the heads, the alleged remains, that they are nowhere to be found. I would like to hear the answer, - said the Patriarch.
- There are a lot of bones, vaults of the skull. In addition, in both cases, fragments of the occipital bone from the same area were preserved. This is the area of the cruciform eminence. Well, the teeth also belong to the skull, - answered Viktor Zvyagin.
- And the skull, what do you suppose?
- Fragments.
But, on the other hand, there is also a new challenge. That terrible night in 1818 fell on a summer that was very rainy in the Urals. Burning obviously damp firewood. Therefore, scientists are correcting themselves and will continue to conduct examinations in relation to how it was possible to burn it outside the crematorium.
“There should be about 3 kilograms 400 grams of them. And the study presented about 100 grams of bone remains and 20 grams of teeth. It is quite clear that only one of several criminal burial sites has been found. Therefore, we need to keep looking,”says Viktor Zvyagin.
- It seemed to me remarkable that the skull of skeleton number 4, which is attributed to Nicholas II, is the skull of a person who has not been to the dentist. What is strange - the king did not visit the dentist ?!
- Yes, this is one of the factors that casts doubt on whether these remains belonged to Emperor Nicholas II. Indeed, the teeth are not treated, - answered Bishop Tikhon.
At the same time, Dr. Botkin was shot with the royal family. And in relation to him - new confirmation.
“A very interesting find, unexpected in America. The first researcher Nikolai Sokolov brought to the United States of America much of what he found during his first investigation in the 18-19th years. In particular, in the mine, he found Dr. Botkin's denture. But in the skull number 2 in the remains found in the Pig's Log, just which are attributed, hypothetically attributed to Botkin, just the upper teeth are missing. And this jaw fits perfectly. So, there are both those and other arguments,”says Bishop Tikhon.
And yet the investigation is really too early to be considered complete. And here's why. Those who have been to the Pig's Log know that there is a swampy lake nearby. But where burials were found, there is no swampiness. However, what was there 100 years ago?
Was the Bolshevik car then stuck because of the rains or because there was a swamp in the 18th? But if there was a swamp, then the bodies had to be, let's say, mummified. They found skeletons. That is, there is a chance that this is a later burial? So, in order to find out the answer to this question, a soil science examination has now been appointed.
In general, it is strange to admit this, but by getting down to business, the Church was able to learn a lot of new things. And at the same time he listens to everyone. They may not always be each other.
“We are very pleased that the communication at the conference was absolutely constructive, benevolent, and everyone wanted to find out the truth,” says Bishop Tikhon.
- Although many were worried, was it visible?
- Everyone was worried.
- But still, there was such a reaction from a number of those present. One scientist, a second, a third, spoke to him. But then opponents appear, and as if these performances were not, again for their own?
- It's okay, people do not immediately perceive. You see, people have been convinced of their version for two decades, and they sometimes need time to comprehend something.
And, nevertheless, many will say, what else to comprehend if genetics have already said their word? And, in addition to the domestic luminary Evgeny Rogaev, at the previous stage, the study was carried out in the laboratory of the US Army. “For skeptics, we can present the fresh results of male Y chromosomes and mitochondrial studies, which showed the same data 20 years later. Therefore, all attempts to question the results of numerous studies are already becoming offensive,”said Michael Coble, head of research at the DNA identification laboratory of the US Armed Forces in 2006-2010.
However, the geneticists themselves admit: the last royal Romanovs were identified by them on the basis of a comparison of the remains that were given to them. And what were these remains?
The floor is given to the new investigator. “A huge amount of work has been done in the 90s with the involvement of a wide range of highly qualified specialists. However, the analysis of the initial findings revealed significant shortcomings, violations in terms of evidence of appointment and compliance with the requirements of criminal procedure laws,”says Marina Molodtsova, senior investigator for especially important cases of the First Investigation Department of the Main Directorate for Investigation of Especially Important Cases of the RF IC.
This time the Church took everything under double control, including her own. “These samples have been brought to His Holiness the Patriarch. They were together with samples from about the same time, but obviously not belonging to the Romanov family. And all these out of 10, for example, samples, two or three belong to the desired ones, the rest are just strangers. All these samples were encrypted by the Patriarch, there is such a method of blind research, from afar it was all filmed with a video camera, sealed and sent to genetic laboratories,”said Bishop Tikhon.
But it's not just the geneticists that matter. Finally, let's return to the topic of the severing of the head of Nicholas II. And let's return to the very office of Lenin.
The famous green lampshade. Lenin is finalizing some decree of the Council of People's Commissars, and his visitors can view a sculpture - the very gift of Hamer: a monkey sits on the works of Darwin and examines a human skull. Maybe this is the origin of the theory that Lenin's office had the head of Emperor Nicholas II? This is the assumption of our program. What do professional experts say?
“On the 'separation of the heads'. I would like to draw your attention to the left figure, the left diagram. This is the position of the remains in the Yekaterinburg burial, which were recorded in 1991, when, in fact, there was no special cheese-boron in this respect. These remains, this skeleton, at first, in the 91st year, the 92nd year, was considered a skeleton, allegedly belonging to the sovereign-emperor. Later it turned out that this skeleton belonged to the maid Demidova. As for the fourth skeleton, pay attention to the lower left corner. Here the arrow shows the skull and the cervical spine. In addition, a careful examination of these vertebrae, careful, from all sides, did not reveal any traces of the impact of chopping or cutting objects, with the help of which something could be cut off,”said Vyacheslav Popov.
As for genetics, here the control is generally the highest. It turns out that the codes from the samples are in His Holiness's safe.
“There can be no haste in the business that we are all doing together. We can’t do it either for the holiday, or for Monday, as they say, or for the New Year. When we do, then we will do everything,”the Patriarch emphasized.
Sergey Brilev