They did WHAT? — Rurik Dynasty Lawsuit Forces Russia to Prove Kremlin Ownership

August 17, 2010

On Aug. 17, 2010, Bloomberg’s Anastasia Ustinova reported that ” A Moscow court gave the government a month to prove it owns the Kremlin, after descendents of the
country’s founding dynasty sued for the right to use the
property that their forefathers built and inhabited.
The Moscow Arbitration Court yesterday ordered the Federal
Property Management Agency and Culture Ministry to submit their
legal claims to the Kremlin to the descendants of Rurik, the
Varangian prince who founded Kievan Rus in the 9th century,
according to Rossiyskaya Gazeta, the official state newspaper.
The suit was filed by the Princes Foundation, which
represents dozens of the known descendents of Rurik, who began a
dynasty that ruled until 1598. The 15 years between the last
Rurik and first Romanov tsar are known as the Time of Troubles.
“We demand the right to hold meetings inside the Kremlin
and look after the historic property,” said Valery Kubarev,
head of the Princes Foundation, by phone today. “This is a
question of historical justice,” Kubarev said.
The Kremlin complex was built over several centuries, with
Ivan the Great completing the wall encircling the 28-hectare
(69-acre) complex on the Moscow River more than 500 years ago.
The United Nations included the landmark on its World Heritage
List together with the adjacent Red Square in 1990.
The Russian Federation inherited the Kremlin after the
collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and it serves as the
official residence of the president, though no official
ownership title has ever been registered. Part of the
government’s defense is that the UN recognizes the Kremlin as
state property, Rossiyskaya Gazeta said.
“I want the address registered in my passport to say,
‘Kremlin, Moscow,’” Kubarev, 47, said. “The Ruriks have always
helped spur spiritual and cultural development in Russia, so the
dynasty needs to be registered in the heart of this country.”
Kubarev describes himself on his website as an entrepreneur,
writer and “history consultant” to Russia’s parliament.
The Kremlin’s press service declined to comment on the
lawsuit immediately, as did the Property Management Agency and
the Culture Ministry. The next hearing in the case is scheduled
for Oct. 18.”