Descendants of Russia's first ruling dynasty have gone to court to reclaim their ancestral lands – specifically, the Kremlin.
On Monday, the Moscow Arbitration Court decided the case will be heard Oct. 18. The plaintiff is the Princes' Foundation for the Advancement of Religious and National Consensus, founded in May 2009 by Valery Kubarev, who traces his lineage to the Rurik dynasty. It was under the reign of Rurik grand princes, Kubarev claims, that the Kremlin was constructed.
According to its website, the foundation seeks "usage rights" to the Kremlin "in perpetuity."
Although the foundation's audacious claim seems to have little chance of succeeding, the suit arises as the Russian government is returning numerous buildings and other property to the Russian Orthodox Church.
In a surprise move, the court not only agreed to hear the case, but also granted the Princes' Foundation's request for official documentation regarding the status of the architectural elements of the Kremlin and of the underlying land.
The defendants are the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Culture and the Federal Agency for State Property Management (Rosimushchestvo). A lawyer for Rosimushchestvo told the newspaper Rossiiskaia Gazeta that the Kremlin is the property of the Russian state, but admits that at the current time no property rights to the historic complex have been registered.
That is precisely the point, Kubarev maintains.
"The court noted that there is no document that proves that the Kremlin is somebody's property. All we have is a presidential decree that says that the Kremlin is his residence," Kubarev said. "Well, I could write my own decree, too." ...
via 'Grand Prince of All Russia' Valery Kubarev Sues to Get Kremlin Back.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
'Grand Prince of All Russia' Valery Kubarev Sues to Get Kremlin Back
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Kubarev is a widely recognized kook and attention seeker. His claim to royal heritage is by way of undocumented agnatic descent from Vladimir II Monomakh, Grand Prince of Kiev. His ancestry is unproven by verifiable genealogical sources. Moreover, there are a few thousand living descendants of the same Vladimir II, and most of these are more established or more senior descendants of the bloodline than Kubarev (as they descend from more recent rulers who were sons, grandsons, and so on, of Vladimir II). What’s more, the idea he posits, that he is the rightful heir to the Rurikovichi (or Rurkid) dynasty is based on that his (approx.) 100 U.S. dollar DNA test shows that he has had less change to his DNA (AS WE UNDERSTAND IT AT THIS POINT IN TIME) over the past 900 years than five or six families who have had DNA testing of the very many established princely families (all of which can still claim descent from Vladimir II, too). It makes no sense at all for this site or any other to affirm Kubarev’s ridiculous claim to royalty when, all over the world, there are many people descended from rulers of 900 years ago who hold no title and are not accorded any either — especially when Kubarev cannot even fully document his descent.
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