The Russian Orthodox church has announced that the results of the DNA-examinations of the “Yekaterinburg remains”, or better said the remains of Emperor Nicholas II of Russia and his family will be announced in the second quarter of 2017.
“Very intensive work is going on. The genetic expertise has been held in the best world’s laboratories. Very extensive and interesting anthropological expertise with principally new data is being completed, now I can’t be more precise. The Anthropology Institute, coroners, anthropologists were also involved in it. There also was a historical expertise.”
The final decision of the recognition or non-recognition of the remains as holy relics will be with the Council of Bishops.
“By now they have discovered many interesting, principally new things. The case has not been closed, and we are not authorized to tell the details of the investigation,” said Bishop Tikhon.
In July 1991 the bodies of nine people were found near Yekaterinburg. They were the bodies of Nicholas II, his wife, three of their daughters, the doctor and servants. After examination of the remains the royal family was buried in the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg. In 2007 the remains of two others were founds. Numerous examinations argue that the remains belong to Tsarevich Alexei and Grand Duchess Maria. These two remains were under further investigation by the church. The remains currently lie in the State Archive in Moscow.
Following this, an investigation into the criminal case of the deaths of the royal family was reopened. Samples were taken from the skeletons of Nicholas II and his wife, as well as his grandfather, Alexander II. They also opened the tomb of Alexander III.
Read the exclusive interview with the Head of the Patriarchal Council for Culture, rector of the Moscow Sretensky Monastery Bishop Tikho on the matter here.
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