Russia said on Wednesday that charred remains found in a pit belonged to Tsar Nicholas II's only son and his daughter, exactly 90 years after the Bolsheviks shocked the world by murdering the last Tsar.

Moscow's confirmation that the remains included those of Tsar Nicholas's 13-year-old heir, Prince Alexei, came as hundreds of Russians flocked to a church built on the site where the family was gunned down by Bolshevik executioners.

Nicholas II, lampooned by the Soviets as a failure, is considered by many Russians today as a martyr and presented as a symbol of the imperial glory which many now seek to recapture.