The Russian Church has announced it will re-examine its stance on the remains of the Imperial Family if these forensic analysis identifies them as those of the missing children, see paragraph below I have highlighed:
Bones Likely Belong to Czar's Children, Experts Say (Update1)
2007-09-28 08:43 (New York)
(Adds date of DNA analysis in third paragraph.)
By Henry Meyer
Sept. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Forensics experts in the Urals city
of Yekaterinburg said bone fragments unearthed in July probably
belong to the missing son and daughter of Russia's last czar,
Nicholas II.
Experts concluded ``with a high degree of probability'' that
the bones belong to Czarevich Alexei, heir to the Russian throne,
and Grand Duchess Maria, Vladimir Gromov, deputy head of the
Sverdlovsk Regional Bureau for Forensic Medical Analysis, which
examined the remains, said by telephone today.
Forensic specialists will begin DNA testing next month to
establish the identity of the remains with greater certainty.
Gromov said the condition of the bone fragments, badly damaged by
extreme heat and possibly acid, will make this difficult.
Experts are comparing the bone fragments against samples
taken from nine skeletons uncovered in 1991, including those of
the czar, his wife Alexandra and three daughters.
The latest bones were discovered near Yekaterinburg, where
the royal family was executed by a Bolshevik firing squad in
1918.
A preliminary analysis showed that the remains are
consistent with the age and gender of the czar's hemophiliac son,
Alexei, and daughter Maria, who were born in 1904 and 1899
respectively, Gromov said.
Nicholas II ruled Russia from 1894 until he was forced to
abdicate in March 1917. The family was later sent to the Urals by
the provisional government and held after the Bolsheviks seized
power in October 1917.
Most of the bodies were soaked in acid and dumped down a
mine shaft, while those of Alexei and one of his sisters were
burned and buried, according to notes by Yakov Yurovsky, the
leader of the family's killers.
Remains Exhumed
Part of the royal remains were exhumed in 1991 and reburied
in the former imperial capital, St. Petersburg, in 1998.
The Russian Orthodox Church, refuting the scientific
findings, doesn't recognize the remains buried in St. Petersburg
as those of the royal family and refused to attend the reburial.
Archpriest Georgy Mitrofanov, a member of the church's
canonization committee, said today the church was prepared to
review its stance on the bones found in 1991 if the latest
remains are found to be authentic, Interfax reported. U.S. and possibly Canadian experts will assist in the
continuing forensic work, Gromov said.
--Editors: Henry (jjd/jjd)
To contact the reporter on this story:
Henry Meyer in Moscow at +7-495-771 7729 or
hmeyer4@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story:
Edward Buckle at +49-30-70010-6225 or
ebuckle@bloomberg.net;
John Deane at +44-20-7673-2285 or
Jdeane3@bloomberg.net.
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