BOLSHEVIKS MURDERED ROMANOV IMPERIAL FAMILY

BIJELJINA, JULY 16 /SRNA/ - On July 17, 1918, the Bolsheviks murdered members of Russia's Romanov imperial family in Yekaterinburg – Tsar Nicholas II, Tsarina Alexandra, their son and heir to the throne Alexei, and their four daughters, Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia.

Tsar Nicholas, together with his wife and their five children, was canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia in 1981, while the Russian Orthodox Church canonized them as the Holy Royal Martyrs in 2000.

Nicholas II Romanov was a great friend of the Serbian people and entered the war in 1914 after Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia.

The burial sites of the Romanov family's remains were discovered in 1991 and 2007.

Their remains were exhumed from unmarked graves and reburied in the Romanov family tomb at the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St Petersburg.

In July 1918, the Russian White Army, supported by Czech forces, was advancing towards Yekaterinburg. Fearing that the White forces might free Tsar Nicholas, the Bolsheviks decided to execute the Tsar and his family.

Hardline communist Yakov Yurovsky headed the local committee entrusted with deciding the fate of the last Russian Tsar and his family.

Several days before the execution, Yurovsky replaced the guards who had been protecting the Romanovs since their arrival in Yekaterinburg. They were replaced by new men prepared to carry out the execution without question.

Shortly after midnight, the guards woke the imperial family under the pretext that "they were no longer safe because gunfire could be heard in the streets."

Tsar Nicholas, Tsarina Alexandra, their five children and their attendants were taken to the basement and murdered.