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Remains believed to be those of Russian Emperor Ivan VI found
Moscow, September 13, Interfax - Russian scientists have announced that the remains of Ivan VI, the only Russian emperor whose burial place has until now been unknown, have been found in Kholmogory.
"The probability of the remains being genuine is estimated by experts as very high," Anatoly Karanin, the head of the search group, told
Interfax-Religion on Monday. The remains were found during a search for the secret grave of generalissimo Anton Ulrich Herzog von Braunschweig-Wolfenbuttel, who was buried in the village of Kholmogory, Arkhangelsk region, in 1776. The search was conducted due to a possible loss of the remains caused by the demolition of a water tower, which was built on the foundation of a destroyed church.
Among ancient graves Arkhangelsk archaeologists found a sarcophagus containing the remains of a young man whose left shoulder blade was pierced by a sword. Taking into account these circumstances and archive information, the experts assumed that the remains could be those of Ivan VI, the eldest son of the generalissimo, who could have been brought to Kholmogory where his family lived at that time. Subsequent tests confirmed the theory.
The remains found in Kholmogory were taken to Moscow at the request of Viktor Zvyagin, the head of the identification laboratory of the Russian Forensic Medicine center, Vladimir Stanulevich, secretary of the guardian council of the Emperor foundation, told
Interfax-Religion.
Forensic tests performed on the remains determined that the remains were those of Ivan VI. "At this time, there is not a single fact contradicting this assumption. On the contrary, the number of facts and coincidences continues to grow," Stanulevich said.
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