The tragedy of Yekaterinberg: an imperial family murdered in desperation

It was an act that shocked the world and which is still seen as one of the most tragic royal ends of all.

On 17 July 1918, the former Russian Imperial Family was executed by the new Bolshevik government. 

Tsar Nicholas II, Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna, and their children, Grand Duchess Olga, Grand Duchess Tatiana, Grand Duchess Maria, Grand Duchess Anastasia, and Tsarevich Alexei were first imprisoned in March 1917 at Tsarskoye Selo following Nicholas’s abdication in February that year. 

They were then moved to a home in Tobolsk where they were held for over a half a year. However, they moved to their final captive location in April 1918, a house in Yekaterinburg. 

The family and a few servants lived at Ipatiev House in Yekaterinburg under strict guard, with little freedom. They had remained hopeful of escape or rescue but freedom never came.

The shocking deaths of an imperial family

Around 2:00am on 17 July 1918, the family was told to go to the basement of the house for safety. The squad of executioners quickly entered the room, and the family was told that the government had ordered their murders. Before the family could react, the soldiers opened fire. 

The grand duchesses had sewn jewels into their clothing, creating something of a barrier from the bullets. However, it meant that the bullets then ricocheted around the room. The royal family were also bayoneted by the guards. 

The soldiers then took the bodies to the forest where they burned them, soaked them in acid, and threw the remains down a mine shaft. 

It was not until the late 1970s when five of the family members’s remains were discovered, and they were not identified until 1998. In 2007, the bodies of the two remaining family members were located. 

Prince Philip assisted in the identification of the Romanovs after agreeing to provide DNA samples that helped positively identify the remains. The prince was related to both Tsar Nicholas and Tsarina Alexandra.