PHOTO: historian and author Pyotr [Peter] Valentinovich Multatuli

In the year marking the 105th anniversary of the deaths and martydom of the Russian Imperial Family, Pyotr Multatuli took part in this years Divine Liturgy, which was celebrated on the night of 16/17 July, on the square in front of the Church on the Blood in Ekaterinburg.

During a press conference held in Ekaterinburg last month – Multatuli, who has been regular participant of Tsar’s Days in the Ural capital for more than a decade – was asked about the importance of Tsar’s Days in the history of the Russian Orthodox Church – the Urals in particular.

“Tsar’s Days is our repentance before the Holy Tsar-Martyr Nicholas II and his family. What is repentance? Repentance comes from the Greek word metanoia – changing one’s mind or a transformative change of heart; especially: a spiritual conversion . . . We must radically change our view, our attitude towards Emperor Nicholas II and his family, who were brutally murdered by the Bolsheviks, who, above all, were a kind, loving and charitable family.

“Emperor Nicholas II did a lot for Russia, yet he continues to be slandered. Tsar’s Days are not only repentance for the brutal murder of the Imperial Family, but a radical change that must come to the people” – said Pyotr Valentinovich. — “If it does not come, if we do not have a radical change in our attitude towards the Sovereign, and our Lord will charge us for the absence of this repentance. That is why it is so important to be here in Ekaterinburg for the Divine Liturgy, to take part in the Cross Procession, and praying to the Holy Royal Family.

“It is impossible for me not to come to Ekaterinburg in during Tsar’s Days. Wherever I am: whether I am working or resting at home in Moscow – I always come here during these July days, I consider it my moral duty and responsibility to be here in the Urals.

“In addition, it was here in Ekaterinburg, that my great-grandfather Ivan Mikhailovich Kharitonov, the senior cook of the imperial kitchen, was murdered along with the Tsar and his family in the Ipatiev House, so for me, of course, I have a personal connection to Tsar’s Days.

Pyotr Multatuli also reflected on why the atrocity committed 105 years ago is today a feat of the Royal Martyrs for us.

“On the site where the Holy Royal Family were murdered, the beautiful Church on the-Blood now stands, where members of the Imperial Family are glorified as saints, and at Ganina Yama where the regicides threw the bodies of the Imperial Family into a mine shaft, a monastery today shines” – noted the historian. — “We see that the Church of Christ now stands on the blood of the martyrs. It is during Tsar’s Days that we must think not only about the atrocity which took place here more than a century ago, but more importantly about the feat of our Holy Tsar and his family. This is especially relevant now, when our Motherland is living through troubled times, and the Holy Tsar Nicholas Alexandrovich prays for Russia at the throne of God.

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Peter Valentinovich Multatuli was born in Leningrad on 17th November 1969. He is a Russian journalist, historian and author. Multatuli is regarded as Russia’s foremost authority on the life and reign of Emperor Nicholas II. He is a prolific author of numerous books on Russia’s much slandered Tsar, and a regular guest and speaker on talk shows, documentaries and conferences.

He is the great-grandson of Ivan Mikhailovich Kharitonov (1872-1918), who served as the Head Cook of the Imperial family. He followed the tsar and his family into exile, and was murdered along with them in the Ipatiev House on 17th July 1918.

© Paul Gilbert. 14 August 2023