Russian authorities say DNA analysis shows bone fragments found in the Ural Mountains region belong, as suspected, to two missing children of Czar Nicholas II. The czar and his family were executed by Bolsheviks in 1918.
Sverdlovsk regional Governor Eduard Rossel confirmed the analysis results Wednesday, saying testing was carried out in the United States.
Rossel says the fragments are those of Crown Prince Alexei and his sister, Maria.
The fragments were found last year near Yekaterinburg, along with bullets and a set of capsules, at a separate location near the site where the remains of the rest of the royal family were exhumed in 1991. Scientists said the capsules contained sulfuric acid likely used to disfigure the bodies.
The remains of the czar, his wife and three other daughters were reburied in St. Petersburg's Peter and Paul cathedral in 1998. Two years later, the Russian Orthodox Church canonized them.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.