Below is a translation from an article emailed by a Russian colleague. It is recent but I have no date.
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Swinishness in Porosenkov Log
By Anna KOLESNIK
The place of burial of Nicholas II and his family is being destroyed by unknown vandals.
Yekaterinburg’s archaeologists are worried: evidence of the brutal murder of the tsar family is under threat.
Sergei Pogorelov, Deputy Head of the Department of Archaeological Research of the Scientific Centre for Protection of Monuments of History and Culture, has been directly involved in the long-term exploration works on Koptyakovskaya Road in Porosenkov Log where the tsar and his family were buried, and he and his colleagues visited the site in October.
When the specialists arrived, they were shocked: the site where they worked so carefully trying to find any artefacts, was occupied by builders drilling and doing geodetic surveys.
'We saw drill holes not far from the spot where we had found the remains of Alexei and Maria, where they had been burnt and thrown into a pit’, notes Sergei Pogorelov. ‘Besides, the top soil was damaged by cars driven by strangers. It’s possible that part of the items has now been destroyed as we previously found some things scattered just 2 centimetres below the surface.’
It was here where in 1991 and 2007 the archaeologists managed to find the bones belonging to the Royal family. This was confirmed by a number of DNA tests carried out in Russia, USA, UK and Austria. More over, in August this year the historians gathered nearly two hundred fragments of jugs used to carry sulphuric acid which the murderers poured over their victims before burning them. They also found parts of the spades which had been used to try to hide the bodies.
Sergei Pogorelov says only a third of the area was explored and the scientists are bound to make many more significant discoveries. There is also another version suggesting that there were several burials and the remains are in different places. A group of anthropologists from Moscow agree with this point of view and believe not all of the bones have been found yet. So a decision was made to continue the exploration in 2010. But can the specialists resume their digging and find anything after this barbarian intrusion?
Mr Pogorelov adds: 'The unknown builders told us they had won a tender of the Yekaterinburg Diocese which plans to use this site as an Orthodox cemetery and build a chapel there. But this is illegal as back in 1995 the governor issued a decree to give this territory the status of a historic monument. At the time it was signed by Arkady Chernetsky, Head of the city, Georgy Mazaev, the Chief Architect of the Region and many other officials. This place is, therefore, protected by law.
In the meantime the archaeologists are the only people protecting it at the moment. They sent their letters to Alexander Misharin, the Governor of the Region, Nikolai Vinnichenko, the President's representative in the Ural Federal District, and Cyril, the Russian Patriarch. If the situation doesn’t change after the Christmas holidays, they intend to make an application to the Prosecutor’s Office and other influential organisations.
The interesting thing is that Boris Kosinsky, the press secretary of the Diocese, denies the rumour about the potential graveyard. He says he doesn’t take these claims seriously: "I don’t know anything about the construction. And I do not think it necessary to build anything on the exploration site. We’ve always enjoyed good relations with the archaeologists: We helped then when the bones were found in 1905 Square in Yekaterinburg and cooperated with them during the work on the site where the Ipatiev House was previously situated and where the Church-on-the-Blood now stands. So I do not see the reason for such claims.
Incidentally, despite the genetic tests the Orthodox Church still hasn’t acknowledged the fact that it was the bodies of the Royal family which were found near Koptyakovskaya Road.
The Sverdlovsk Region Ministry for State Property also deny the fact that any tenders to build on Porosenkov Log were ever announced or any sites were authorised for a new graveyard or chapel.
The Department of State Protection of the Cultural Heritage in Sverdlovsk Region told us their officials already started to investigate what had happened. It’s time for the law enforcement authorities to get involved too. And we will follow the course of events.
