DNA proves remains were Romanov children

YEKATERINBURG , Russia, March 11 (UPI) -- Human remains found outside the Russian city of Yekaterinburg belonged to the two missing children of slain Russian czar Nikolai Romanov, DNA tests show.

Researchers said a recent round of DNA tests on the bone and tooth fragments found in a makeshift grave near Yekaterinburg in 2007 found that they belonged to Czar Nicholas II's children: Crown Prince Alexei, 12, and Grand Duchess Maria, 19, CNN reported Wednesday.

Scientists had identified the remains as Alexei and Maria in 2008, but the new DNA tests helped finalize those investigative findings. The remains had been burnt and chemically damaged.

The Romanov family, which was the last monarchy in Russia's history, was attacked in the Yekaterinburg home by Bolsheviks in 1918.

Family members, along with Romanov staff and servants, were executed in the attack, but it was initially thought the czar's children escaped the slaughter.

CNN said such hopes were dashed when clues left by one of the assassins ultimately led investigators to the grave and its contents decades later.