In the ensuing fight the Czechs gained control of the town of Chelyabinsk, only 130 miles from Yekaterinburg, where the Tsar was being kept prisoner. The Bolsheviks, fearful that the Czechs would seize the town and liberate the royal family, had the Tsar and his entourage murdered. The risk of them becoming a focal point for a counter-revolution was too high. Nine days later, Yekaterinburg did indeed fall to the Czechs.
