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Russia

Last Russian Tsar, Family Commemorated By Large Procession

Marchers carry crosses as the procession moves through central Yekaterinburg. 
1/7 Marchers carry crosses as the procession moves through central Yekaterinburg. 
Ninety-nine years after the execution of Nicholas II and his family, thousands in central Russia march in memory of Russia's last tsar.
Bullwhip in hand, a Cossack walks ahead of the procession. The marchers followed the route taken by the Bolsheviks as they drove the bodies to a forest north of Yekaterinburg for a hasty burial.   
2/7 Bullwhip in hand, a Cossack walks ahead of the procession. The marchers followed the route taken by the Bolsheviks as they drove the bodies to a forest north of Yekaterinburg for a hasty burial.   
Ninety-nine years after the execution of Nicholas II and his family, thousands in central Russia march in memory of Russia's last tsar.
A boy walks beneath the yellow, black, and white flag of Imperial Russia. 
3/7 A boy walks beneath the yellow, black, and white flag of Imperial Russia. 
Ninety-nine years after the execution of Nicholas II and his family, thousands in central Russia march in memory of Russia's last tsar.
Tsar Nicholas II is an increasingly popular figure in Russia, complicating the country's upcoming centenary of the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution. 
4/7 Tsar Nicholas II is an increasingly popular figure in Russia, complicating the country's upcoming centenary of the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution. 
Ninety-nine years after the execution of Nicholas II and his family, thousands in central Russia march in memory of Russia's last tsar.
Images of the tsar and his family were vigorously repressed during the Soviet era.
5/7 Images of the tsar and his family were vigorously repressed during the Soviet era.
Ninety-nine years after the execution of Nicholas II and his family, thousands in central Russia march in memory of Russia's last tsar.
A woman kisses a cross with a portrait of the tsar, tsarina, and their five children. In 2000, the Russian Orthodox Church canonized the Romanov family. 
6/7 A woman kisses a cross with a portrait of the tsar, tsarina, and their five children. In 2000, the Russian Orthodox Church canonized the Romanov family. 
Ninety-nine years after the execution of Nicholas II and his family, thousands in central Russia march in memory of Russia's last tsar.
Marchers with a carved cross at the site where investigators discovered the bodies of Russia's last royal family. 
7/7 Marchers with a carved cross at the site where investigators discovered the bodies of Russia's last royal family. 
Ninety-nine years after the execution of Nicholas II and his family, thousands in central Russia march in memory of Russia's last tsar.
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Large numbers of people marched near the Russian city of Yekaterinburg before dawn on July 17 to mark the 99th anniversary of the killing by Bolsheviks of Tsar Nicholas II and his family.

Marchers carried Russian Orthodox icons and crosses in the procession from the site where Tsar Nicholas II, Tsarina Aleksandra, and their five children were killed in 1918 -- months after the Bolsheviks seized power -- to the spot where their bodies were buried.

In 2000, the Russian Orthodox Church canonized Nicholas, Aleksandra, Crown Prince Aleksei, and Grand Princesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia.

A procession honoring the royal family has been held in Yekaterinburg each July 17 since then.

Thousands marched in the religious procession.
Thousands marched in the religious procession.

Russian news agencies said tens of thousands of people marched this year. They included Natalya Poklonskaya -- a controversial lawmaker who has aired monarchist views -- as well as Romanov relative Olga Kulikovskaya-Romanova and delegations from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and New Zealand.

Special services and prayers commemorating the last tsar and his family were held in Orthodox Churches in St. Petersburg, Moscow, and other Russian cities.

A substantial majority of Russians consider themselves Orthodox Christians, but surveys show that only a small fraction attend church regularly.

Based on reporting by TASS, Interfax, and The Guardian
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