The Romanovs were the last imperial family of Russia. In August 1917, after a failed attempt to send the Romanovs to the United Kingdom, Alexander Kerenskys provisional government evacuated the Romanovs to Tobolsk, Siberia, allegedly to protect them from the rising tide of revolution. There they lived in the former governors mansion in considerable comfort. However, in April 1918, they were moved to the Ipatiev House in Ekaterinburg, where they were kept in strict isolation. On July 17, 1918, the Romanovs were awoken by their Bolshevik captors and told they must dress and gather their belongings for a swift nocturnal departure. They were taken to the cellar of the mansion, where they were shot and killed along with their four remaining servants.

The bodies were taken to the Koptyaki forest, where they were stripped, mutilated with grenades to prevent identification, and buried. The remains were discovered in 1991 and identified through DNA testing in 1998.

The murder of the Romanov family was a seminal event of the 20th century, a wanton massacre that shocked the world and still inspires a terrible fascination today. The story of the lines last ruler and his family was most certainly not over, and rumors persisted about what really happened to Nicholas II’s loved ones. In recent years, the public has learned more about the brutal execution of the Romanov family and the decades-long cover-up in Russia that followed.