Moscow, June 15 (Interfax) - The last Russian Emperor Nicholas II and his family were executed by order of the Urals Council without the consent of Vladimir Lenin and Yakov Sverdlov, the two most senior Communist leaders at the time, the Investigative Committee under the Prosecutor General's Office said.
"This is totally correct. Without their knowledge. We have not a single document that would show that there was an official decision to execute the Tsar’s family," Vladimir Solovyov, a senior criminologist with the Investigative Committee, said on Ekho Moskvy radio on Tuesday.
On January 15, 2009, Solovyov, who was a serious crime investigator at the time, issued a resolution terminating a criminal inquiry into the killing of Nicholas II and his family.
The head of the House of Romanov, Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna, appealed against the resolution.
The Urals Council was the supreme Soviet authority in the region that covered the Perm, Yekaterinburg, Vyatka, Chelyabinsk, Ufa and Orenburg provinces.
"Approval was sought only with regard to Nicholas II. There were attempts to get an approval, but the telegram addressed to Lenin and Sverdlov arrived when it was no longer possible to report and make some decision before the execution," Solovyov said.
"In other words, the executioners entered the basement of the Ipatiev House at the same time when the telegram was being sent to Lenin and Sverlov. Technically, it was impossible to coordinate these two actions. The decision to execute was made on July 12 and the Urals Council made no specific announcement before July 16 of its plans to execute the royal family and Nicholas II," Solovyov said.
Nicholas II and his family were shot dead in the early hours of July 17, 1918, in Yekaterinburg.
On October 1, 2008, the Russian Supreme Court presidium ruled to rehabilitate Nicholas II and his family.
The House of Romanov disagrees with the Investigative Committee’s conclusions that the royal family were victims of "ordinary criminals." The Romanovs had their lives taken from them on behalf of the state, it said.
Alexander Zakatov, director of the Chancellery of the House of Romanov, voiced his reaction to the announcement by the Investigative Committee.
"Whether there was an order from Lenin and Sverdlov before and after the execution is totally irrelevant. The Supreme Court presidium ruled on October 1, 2008, that all members of the royal family without exception, executed in Yekaterinburg, are the victims of political repressions and must be rehabilitated. This is exactly what Mr. Solovyov and the prosecution’s Investigative Committee are trying to depart from," Zakatov told Interfax on Tuesday.
Solovyov’s decision ignores the Supreme Court ruling, stating that Nicholas II and family were executed on behalf of the state, Zakatov said.
"Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna insists that the resolution to terminate the criminal case be brought in line with the decision by the Russian Supreme Court ruling," the House of Romanov representative said.
