Making the sign of the Cross, I declare to all the Russian people:

Our hope that the precious life of the Sovereign Emperor Nicholas Alexandrovich, or that of the Heir and Tsesarevich Alexei Nikolayevich, or that of the Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich, might have been preserved, has proved to be in vain.

The time has now come to make it known to all that on 4/17 July 1918, in the city of Ekaterinburg, by order of the international group which has seized power in Russia, the bestial assassinations of the Sovereign Emperor Nicholas Alexandrovich, the Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, their son and heir Tsesarevich Alexei Nikolaevich, and their daughters the Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia, have been perpetrated.

In the same year, near the city of Perm, the brother of the Sovereign Emperor, Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich, was killed.

Let the blessed memory of these August Martyrs be the guiding star for us in the sacred cause of restoring the former well-being of our Motherland. And let the day of 4/17 July be for Russia for all time a day of sorrow, penitence and prayer.

The Russian laws of succession to the Throne do not permit the Imperial Throne to remain vacant after the demise of the previous reigning Emperor and after the deaths of his closest heirs have been established.

Also, by our law, the new Emperor becomes such by virtue of the law of succession itself.

The unprecedented famine which has again broken out in Russia and the despairing appeals for help which are coming from the Motherland make it imperative that the cause of the deliverance of the Motherland should have at its head a supreme and rightful authority, free of class or party.

Therefore I, as senior Member of the Imperial Family and the only rightful heir to the Imperial Throne of Russia, assume the title of Emperor of All the Russias which indisputably be-longs to me.

I declare my Son, Prince Wladimir Kirillovich, to be Heir to the Throne, with the title of Grand Duke, Heir and Tsesarevich.

I promise and swear solemnly to maintain the Orthodox Faith and the Russian Fundamental Laws on Succession to the Throne, and I undertake to safeguard as inviolable the rights of all religious denominations.

The people of Russia are great and endowed with abundant gifts of mind and heart, but they have fallen into terrible calamity and misfortune.

May the great trials sent to Russia by God cleanse it and lead it to a bright future, renewing and strengthening the holy alliance between Tsar and people.

Kirill

Issued on 31 August 1924