that's the headline is now it's ninety years exactly it says the bolsheviks executed the last russian tsar nicholas the second and his family and their deaths and three centuries of rule by they were none of dynasty also interviewed historian helen rappaport whose expert research is contained in her book the last days of the ramana it was telling the story of the tragedy and its impact on russia's history. today i've been with helen rappaport she's an expert on the russian imperial family particularly the last days of that arm on us who were assassinated in a pattern boat during the bolshevik revolution helen rappaport thanks very much for talking to r.t. now you focus on the last thirteen days of that i'm honest lives in your pattern but why did you choose that period well when i looked at the stories of. the end of the dynasty i suddenly realize that although we knew the broad span of nicholas's

reign and the overall story no one had looked at any great detail in those final few days particularly new culture in vogue and the main reason for that was because until the collapse of communism there was no access to some of the important eyewitness testimonies by the guards and your crew for your oscar who was in charge of the party of so we didn't have enough evidence to look at that really closely and when i did start looking at it closely i found it absolutely fascinating and gripping and it was the story i wanted to tell the city was in a terrible state of panic the bolsheviks were basically taking everything they could out of your culture and work that was worth anything because it was the center of the mining industry so it was gold some precious minerals and they wanted to get that all out before the city fell so in terms of taking the imperial family there what do you. i think the saw for example must of felt when he

knew they were going to catch him but he cautioned berg had a large factory and industrial population a very heavily politicized workers who were very loyal bolsheviks and the sars heart sank when he was told that he was going to be taken there he said i would go anywhere but if you catch him but because the people there are so against me once the family arrived in a pattern bag they lived in increasingly horrible circumstances they were actually told the minute they arrived you are now entering a prison regime and there was a big difference between how things were in some polls square they had a rare relative degree of freedom to move about to go to church to go outside to see people in the outside world the awful thing that happened when they arrived that you can't remember their immediately greeted by a place surrounded by an enormous stockade a wooden stockade was built right around the house the windows were painted white

so the family once they're inside that house could not see the outside world they were denied newspapers they were denied letters and parcels no visitors so they were effectively cut off and what kind of family were they at that stage while they were incredibly close knit family very devoted to each other and i think the thing that one of the fundamental things that held them so closely together was they had this very deep very profound orthodox faith and they did take a rather fatalistic attitude to god's will and what would happen happened to to them also the girls in many ways were very image sure of their age very on worldly they had lived such a coon's life at the alexander palace in outside some petersburg once alexei was born found to be hemophiliac everyone closed in to protect him to protect the family so in that way. they managed to survive better i think than other families

would because they was so so used to being only in each other's company but it wasn't just the family who were in their pattern of house was that they were also accompanied by some of their old retainers while the retainers were intensely loyal they volunteered to go with the run in australia and it was very uncertain what was going to happen to them they might must have had some sense that it might all end horribly so their intensely loyal particularly docked to port king who i think of all of them had a sense that this might end in something dreadful he was very pragmatic very realistic and one of the last letters he wrote from the house an unfinished letter said basically i don't expect to get out of here alive but what was interesting was that when the romanovs first arrived there was obviously an intensely hostile attitude to them from the guards many very young local fact she workers who volunteered what they considered was an on or to guard units bloodthirsty czar and

his family and as time went on a strange thing happened some of these young guards began to develop a sympathy for the family especially the girls and especially aleksei who was very very sick but interesting lee although they could empathize with the children especially and came to like the girls actually and even thought this all was a perfectly decent chap they never liked that sorry tsa they always found a very. stuck up and still demanding people bow and scrape to even in that situation but as time went on the guards began to fraternize a bit too much became a bit too friendly with the girls especially and that was when there was a massive clampdown and yaakov furore ski was brought in and the whole thing changed and so it's made it more about yeah of little ski he is often portrayed sort of maniac old. or but in fact you sort of bring out

a slightly more complex side to his personality well he was an absolutely ruthless cope blooded pragmatic dedicated bolshevik he was also a local checa chica was the precursor of what became the k.g.b. the the russian political secret service so he was there for a purpose he was sent in to enforce clamp down on the press and i say sion to really make the route regime there a very strict prison regime and effectively to prepare for what was now an increasing venture as he was that they might have to kill the family because the white and the counter-revolutionary forces were working their way east from blood of our stock right in far the far west of russia working their way back to walk along a trance iberian rare way towards a culture which was then a focal point on the railway line amongst the gods was there anything that they

weren't going to go through with it yes absolutely just before they came to kill the family you're asking was issuing orders about who was supposed to kill whom they were all given an individual target and some of the guards immediately said we will not kill the girls and the number of killers in the end was reduced because of that and in fact the ultimate solution was putting all in a room and and killing them all together but that turned into a bloodbath didn't it and you've spoken to a forensic expert tell me what you what his opinion of what happened was what concerned me was the terrible inefficiency with which they murdered them i mean some some people think they were just lined up in a row bang bang bang you're dead it was not like that it was a dreadful ill conceived ill executed murder you can't say it was an execution it was brutal because you know you're also didn't plan it he didn't check out whether they were these guys who. good shots they didn't check the guns they had

a mixture of some efficient guns browning's and coats and also old army issue not guns which probably didn't work they didn't count the fact they were killing eleven people in a small dark basement room which rapidly became full of acrid smoke noise panic hysteria people screaming and running around it was an absolute catastrophe because they then had to brutally finish them off the only one of them the family really who had a quick death was actually nicholas because the minute they the order came to fire they all want to take pop pot shot at this hour of course so they could say well i shot nicholas so he died immediately but the others suffered horribly particularly the children and then the burial also. total. total mismanaged from the start worst of it was that the man in charge of the details take the bodies out into the forest in a truck at

a very rapidly old fear truck arrived dead drunk and late so with one shovel. one shovel to bury some people that was it was just silly and the other thing was they hadn't properly checked out the site they'd chosen which was a mine working in the forest and when they got there they discovered first of all it was too shallow and secondly it was full of water and that to get throw eleven bodies down there they'd almost immediately be found by the local peasants so they had to go back the next morning hold the bodies out and go in dump them somewhere else it was just dreadful now the murder of them on a family is often attributed to a sort of maverick branch of the kasserine by the bolsheviks but you believe that the order can be traced directly to leonard well lenin was very careful to always cover his tracks and he he never ever took responsibility for anything as controversial as the merger of the roman arts but he said categorically we must not

have a living banner we must not have anyone surviving from the family around whom a counter-revolution could could gather and gain a you know gain gain power so the decision was made in moscow during meetings with gul a short in a man from the pattern book soviet he went back and forth quite a few times to moscow now got a shock and was very good friends with the arc of spirit love who was lennon's right hand man said lapham had worked as opposed to tape for a new country but he knew the city he knew the bolsheviks there and i think fundamentally a tacit agreement was given by lenin that when the time came and the judgment of when that time came was left to the culture bolsheviks when they knew that the game was up and the city was going to fall to go in and kill more i mean. forward to the present day what would you say is the abiding legacy of that armada family to me the most interesting thing i found when i went to russia when i went to catch in vogue was this incredible development this this sense of identification of the

romanovs with author to see and specifically with everything of mother russia of nationhood of a united country but everything that russia lost under the depredations of seventy years of communism this is terrible nostalgia for the roman also because nicolas wasn't a good star he was a terrible terrible incompetent in many respects but the biting thing is this terrible sense of the murder of innocents and the roman also represent for ordinary russians for believers a sense of nationhood an orthodoxy that they feel they've lost before thanks very much thank you. for was that so much of i would like to know if you're really into the ring nuclear

me or western ideas of god in our main street even democracy in the balance in what model.

i've. mainstream medical view of the court is a maze comes under fire from skeptics that's twenty thousand scientists politicians

and activists gathering for a conference to discuss ways of battling the disease. also in the week's top stories security services arrest a group of suspected it would be suicide bombers in the southern russian republic of dagestan among them one fifteen year old girls sat there dead it's been a strange. heroes and iranian nuclear scientist returns home after claiming he was kidnapped by the cia and denies the accusation as reports that he may help inspire the mission turns. by the heat michael breaking heat wave across russia is scorching crops any time farm it's. catch up with the sport with dmitri.

you know this is what you're doing here not to things for joining us this. quick look at what's going on in the world of sport. unheralded lou it was tasered dominates at the british open to win his first major title. russia's first formula one driver and defending champ and johnson got some complaints in moscow. and then of a draw so wins the german moto g.p. while ross sits in the shoes fourth on his return from the leg. and will start with golf solve africa's tasing has won the british open by seven strokes the twenty seven year old shot a one to seventy one in the fourth and final round for us. under total local favorite lee westwood settles for runner up finish world number one tiger woods managed only three and it's their first major win for. the defies the old dominate

the field from the early stages. not football with more action in the russian premier league today well a combative moved into fifth sport's that's after beating along a three nil goal from a late double from six sealed the victory for the muscovites in the meantime terakhir spots like most good for ninth sports following one milby in that car i still tire from target three minutes before the break. gave the parson home crowd few reasons to celebrate as they were a fresh new voice for one. camilla galanos had put the visitors in from eighteen minutes into the game and one about to go into the interval. to get break prove costly for the siberian side left to go mouth but failed to collect the ball and survive an attempt to make up for his mistake a yellow card and pounce

a followed on make no mistake from the spot in first half injury time another defensive blips all the way side make it free email me to wait for the second half . back earth cute to finish off a neat cross did pull one go back with a powerful brick. but survive the final nail tops off and fourteen minutes from time sealing the final result for one. cent have received another big boost in their bit to lay their hands on the cover to get a cup after their veteran forward alexei yashin side and one extension on his deal with the northern side the thirty six year old is going nowhere despite previous reports he could be on the move turn other team in the continental. who's a former world champion and double olympic medalist for what should joint scott last season but failed to help them go any further than the opening playoff round

scar iraq to do better than that last sixteen exit and. marty's friend handle antonio matson as well as experienced russia goalkeeper you've got enough to help them make title dream come true the new season faces off on the eighth of september . in cycling denise mitchell has finished second in the fourteenth stage of the two difference the russian wanted to finish with spent similar sanchez who finished third to victory and went to christophe as the frenchman won the first stage in the pyrenees but it's still and held together. it finished for ten seconds behind the winner mention offsets fourth overall. for one hits moscow and f. one exhibition of and has been held in the russian capital the bavarian moscow city of racing event fans a chance to see also the fast cars up close up of once along. for

the third time were transformed into real racing track in the kremlin walls trembled as formula one chorus swept past with a rule it was this old must go public it turned out in droves to hear as thousands attended the event in the very center of the capital in spite of the tropical heat this hero reigning world champion jenson button joined the ranks of famous f one drivers who have come to moscow the russian fans were pleased to see him i've always been excited about coming to moscow and i think you know i'm very lucky to have this opportunity and i feel very privileged to have this opportunity to drive a former long around the kremlin and i mean not many people get better opportunities so i'm very much looking forward to today this is not a day of work for me this is it for enjoyment there were other stories too including the first ever russian driver to compete in formula one true off for the

local crowd he was the main story of this exhibition race the twenty five year old driver hopes that very soon he will be able to drive his racing car on a home track plus of course i want to have a russian grand place here this is a way maybe i can help something like bring the one here first country but i don't know with people when they pull the hopes and i want to be like them or anything but i wouldn't put all the countries you know all i swore in the formula one chorus but there were plenty more research on four wheels into driving in the kremlin to entertain enemies a crowd of. drivers. sure they're drifting skewers causing quite a spectacle. in his commercial also or in the first two. so it's a very exciting event even though these cars are not for driving on the roads they're supposed to be driven in does it's true born to entity the audience to show

the power and potential cause the success of such events has grown year to year in mourners who are fans across the country hoping grand prix will soon be hosted in russia one of the nurses said a project to build a trade by two thousand and twelve is in the point way that would be to produce the first city track on the f one circuit continue but out of. another motor sport knows jennifer just has won the john one grand prix but the honda rider had to do i restart to the race following a three by crash involving ray dippin air. and. the race was reduced to twenty one left as a result of the droste took full advantage edging out fellow spanish who started on pearl finishing over three seconds behind the winner to see his three race winning streak come to an end cases turn a complete at the podium on his ticket to after peping defending champ or volunteer in an intense deal they tell and will but plays with. first race in structuring his

leg six weeks ago but just so was happy in his first victory in the six. and the first race i was i was riding good in. we were going away from a little bit in when they when they start the race and the feeling is late. and then when we restart their race for us most are the same you know because i start first and then here and big and by the end i feel i'm being a lot but i can feel all fast so i overtake him and try to fill it. then finally i get these old hears it's amazing. tennis now and french open runner ups we drop in sword ning seemed on the verge of tears as scythe shots of the now the clay court title the world number five. on margaret in the final of his hometown went to odds with the top seed and defending champion when it made sense to clinch the

match seven five six six two era prone sword link crumbled in the decider and charted for the tour twenty six title and first seventeen months. and finally y'all to give and has been held just outside moscow to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the country's first ever limpid gold in the discipline to me it was the men behind this service unit success in this competition at the games spec in one nine hundred sixty now eighty three is still active in the sport having a foundation aimed at reviving yachting in russia r.t. caught up with him and his old friend and rival who spoke about the times and the sports future. remember a very weird race of the crew the member to meet in a game when he won the race and hour he won the race because he was very very technique out there for. all he knew knew if. we put the

show on the shave this said and use it on an equal bus and when the compass to move that there was a shift doing. it so he gained it they believe the race for six weeks might end up off the well now days your two clubs are brimming with life but it's not so much about sports but mostly about tree creation there are multiple shots and water skiing but this is just a way to spend your free time well to sports told with a few and far between and the russian guy has become a world champion i haven't seen any good results recently as far as olympics are concerned. ok that's all from me and this was a mall in tossed on handouts a guy. the truman started off a world war and lasted for almost a floozy is the jewel of two superpowers and tonight brains. of

the two ninety two miles jewel of the spoons congress. tories which are made to police children's. health. insurance create illnesses. nurse in the. face of the security of against. every month we give you the future we help you understand how to get there and what to bring the best in science and technology from across russia and around the world. join us for technology update on our g.

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the causes of aids comes under fire from skeptics says twenty thousand scientists politicians and activists gathering ghana for a conference to discuss ways of battling the disease. on the week's top headlines old enough to kill the security services arrest a group of suspected to be a suicide bomb is in the south russian republic of dagestan the long time what fifteen year old gals who said their husbands trained them. also hero's ear and iranian nuclear scientist returns home also claiming her was kidnapped by the cia as america denies that she's ation as reports imagine that he might have been spying on washington signed. and paid by the heat and reco breaking news why because russia is scorching homes mating tough times for families .