Here are 10 bizarre and unsettling truths about the mysterious demise of Rasputin.

On January 1, 1917, the body of Grigori Rasputin, an influential figure in Tsarist Russia, was discovered beneath the frozen surface of the Neva River. He had been shot three times and viciously disfigured; his killers even seemed to have removed his right eye.

Rasputin had made enemies everywhere. Seen as a sorcerer and a corrupting force to the tsar, he was despised both by Tsarists and Bolsheviks. His enemies extended beyond Russia’s borders, with many powerful figures seeking his downfall. Prince Felix Yusupov claimed responsibility for Rasputin’s death, stating that he and four accomplices had executed the murder. Yusupov’s account remains the most widely accepted in historical texts.

However, Yusupov’s version of events doesn’t align with any of the facts. Every aspect of his narrative clashes with the autopsy and the available evidence. The true cause of Rasputin’s death remains a mystery.

10. The Death Threat Given to Rasputin the Morning of His Death

On the morning of December 29, 1916, Rasputin received an eerie phone call. According to his daughter Maria, the voice on the other end was unfamiliar, but the message was unmistakable: Rasputin’s life was coming to an end.

It was a death threat, though not the first one Rasputin had encountered. By this point in his life, Rasputin had grown accustomed to receiving multiple threats each day, whether by mail or over the phone, all warning him that his death was needed for the greater good of Russia.

However, this particular threat left Rasputin visibly shaken. Witnesses described him as “nervous” and “agitated” that day. Despite facing numerous threats over the years, this one, received just before his death, seemed to truly frighten him.

The identity of the caller remains a mystery. What we do know is that it wasn’t Felix Yusupov, the man who later claimed responsibility for Rasputin’s death. Yusupov spent the day attempting to charm Rasputin and lure him to his residence, and no one involved in the plot has ever taken credit for the phone call.

9. The Cyanide That Didn’t End His Life

Yusupov's plan was to eliminate Rasputin through poisoning. He invited Rasputin to his home, where plates of cakes and wine, laced with cyanide by one of his accomplices, Dr. Stanislaus de Lazovert, were prepared. The intent was to serve the poisoned treats and watch Rasputin perish.

There is no doubt that Rasputin arrived at Yusupov’s house. The final person to see him was his daughter, Maria, who said goodbye to him at 11:00 PM on December 29. What transpired after that remains a mystery.

Yusupov insists that he fed Rasputin the poisoned cakes and wine, and that Rasputin consumed enough cyanide to kill an elephant. Yet, remarkably, the poison had no effect. Rasputin continued to ask for more.

However, Yusupov’s account doesn’t quite add up. The autopsy report reveals that Rasputin’s body showed 'no trace of poison.'

The reason behind the absence of poison in Rasputin’s system remains unclear. Yusupov’s story suggests that Rasputin might have had supernatural abilities, but there are certainly alternative explanations.

Years later, Dr. Lazovert claimed he had only pretended to poison the cakes due to a moment of guilt. However, many remain skeptical of his version. More recently, forensic scientist Dolly Stolze suggested that Rasputin was indeed poisoned, but the doctor performing the autopsy missed the signs.

Of course, there’s always the possibility that Yusupov simply fabricated the entire story.

8. The Gunshot That Didn’t End His Life

Frustrated by the failure of the poison, Yusupov drew his pistol and shot Rasputin in the chest. Rasputin fell onto his back, blood spilling from his wound, and began to convulse violently. It took a full minute for his body to finally become motionless, by which time Yusupov’s co-conspirators had rushed into the room.

In his memoirs, Yusupov recalls, 'The doctor [Lazovert] declared that the bullet had struck him near the heart. There was no doubt: Rasputin was dead.'

Yusupov claims that the conspirators then drove to Rasputin’s residence. One of them changed into Rasputin’s clothes to make it appear as if he had returned home safely that night. They then returned and began preparing to dispose of Rasputin’s body.

But then, as Yusupov wrote, 'a terrible thing happened. With a sudden violent effort, Rasputin sprang to his feet, foaming at the mouth.'

Yusupov and the others ultimately shot Rasputin several more times, until one of the conspirators, Vladimir Purishkevich, landed the fatal shot to Rasputin’s head. Even as they bound him and tossed him into the river, Yusupov claims that Rasputin’s body continued to twitch.

'It was then I realized who Rasputin truly was,' Yusupov wrote. 'He was the reincarnation of Satan himself.'

7. The Autopsy That Disputes Everything Yusupov Claimed

Yusupov’s account may be thrilling, but it doesn’t align with the facts. The autopsy, conducted by Professor Dmitry Kosorotov, directly contradicts every detail of Yusupov’s story.

In his memoirs, Yusupov asserts that he shot Rasputin in the heart, and even claims that Dr. Lazovert confirmed this by checking the body. However, the autopsy performed by Kosorotov revealed three bullet wounds, none of which were anywhere near the heart. The bullets instead passed through his stomach, liver, kidney, and skull, causing injuries that no doctor could confuse with a shot to the heart.

Similarly, Yusupov maintained that Rasputin was struck by a long-range shot to the back of his head from Purishkevich. Yet, the bullet found in Rasputin’s skull was fired from the front at point-blank range while Rasputin was already lying on the ground.

Yusupov’s account is difficult to align with the actual evidence. Some have speculated that he exaggerated the murder to make Rasputin seem more formidable, but the truth is far from his version. It almost seems like Yusupov had no idea how Rasputin truly met his end.

6. The Rumor That Rasputin Drowned

Yusupov states that Rasputin moved, even after a bullet had pierced his skull. Nonetheless, the conspirators bound Rasputin’s limbs, wrapped his body in heavy linen, drove it to the top of a bridge, and threw it into the water.

According to legend, Rasputin was still alive when they tossed him into the water. When his body was discovered, his hands were free, raised above his head. Rasputin’s daughter Maria would later say that he managed to free his hands under the water, and died from drowning.

The autopsy’s findings are hard to interpret. During the trial, an expert witness testified that the autopsy indicated 'air in Rasputin’s lungs,' suggesting he was alive when he was thrown into the river.

However, the autopsy report presents contradictions. Various transcriptions of the document give different accounts. Some versions state there was no water in his lungs, while others claim there was. There are even versions of the autopsy that clearly state Rasputin was still alive, with one claiming, 'The victim was still breathing when he was thrown into the river.'

At some point, whatever Kosorotov originally wrote appears to have been altered. Was the rumor so pervasive that the autopsy was rewritten? Or was the report changed to conceal that Rasputin was still alive?

5. The Terrible Mutilation Of His Body And Genitals

The person who murdered Rasputin didn’t simply shoot him. They viciously and brutally disfigured his corpse.

The details in Kosorotov’s autopsy are utterly shocking:

The left side shows a large wound, possibly inflicted by a sharp object or a spur.

The genitals were crushed by the force of a similar object.

Kosorotov would later state that these injuries seemed to have been inflicted after Rasputin’s death. This wasn’t a result of a violent struggle. Instead, it was the brutal desecration of a lifeless body, a savage beating that is curiously absent from Yusupov’s account.

There are theories. Some suggest that Rasputin might have sustained these wounds in the water, as his body drifted beneath a thick layer of rough ice. The ice may have also broken the ropes that had bound his wrists.

However, all these ideas are purely speculative. What we know for certain is that his body was mutilated; whether by human hands or natural forces, we cannot say for sure.

4. Yusupov’s Bizarre Determination To Claim Responsibility

Yusupov and his conspirators took extreme measures to conceal the truth about Rasputin’s death. They staged a scene where it appeared Rasputin drove home, disposed of his body in the river, and Yusupov repeatedly told the authorities that the gunshots heard from his residence were simply the result of a drunken guest shooting at a dog.

However, police reports suggest the conspirators confessed almost immediately. The officer sent to Yusupov’s residence to investigate the gunfire reports stated that Purishkevich opened the door and bluntly declared:

Listen, Rasputin is dead, and if you are loyal to the Tsar and the Motherland, you will keep this quiet and tell no one.

Although the police discovered bloodstains in Yusupov’s backyard, the autopsy contradicted his version of events. Initially denying any involvement, Yusupov soon began to capitalize on the scandal, writing an entire memoir that elaborated on the murder of Rasputin in a detailed, almost fairytale-like manner.

When the MGM film Rasputin and the Empress was released, depicting Rasputin’s death, Yusupov even took legal action against the filmmakers, resulting in a court case that officially labeled him as the man who killed Rasputin.

3. The Burning Body That Sat Up

The most widely accepted explanation for Yusupov’s extravagant tale is that he was attempting to ease his guilty conscience. Having taken the life of a helpless man in cold blood, he still sought to present himself as a hero. To achieve this, he distorted the truth, portraying Rasputin as an evil figure who couldn’t be killed.

Yet, a bizarre event in March 1917 makes it almost tempting to believe that Yusupov’s account might have some truth: that Rasputin was indeed a supernatural entity.

A group of soldiers dug up Rasputin’s body, placed it on a pile of logs, drenched it in gasoline, and set it ablaze. They destroyed his remains, fearing that his tomb would become a shrine to the fallen Tsarist regime.

A large crowd of villagers gathered to witness Rasputin’s body burning, and nearly every one of them claims to have seen his decaying corpse rise in the flames.

Of course, there are scientific explanations. Some suggest that Rasputin’s tendons contracted in the fire, causing his body to arch at the waist. Others dismiss the event as a collective delusion.

Yet Rasputin, it is said, predicted every detail of his fate. In a letter he (allegedly) wrote to Tsarina Alexandra just before his death, he said: “I sense I will leave this life before January 1.”

Even after his death, the mystic foretold, he would not be left in peace. His body would be cremated, and his ashes would be scattered to the wind.

2. The MI6 Archives That Say Otherwise

Over a century later, the British government still firmly denies any involvement in Rasputin’s death. They insist that the idea of Rayner being responsible is 'an outrageous accusation, so unbelievable that it borders on childishness.'

It’s possible they are telling the truth. Rayner wasn’t even listed as an active agent at the time of Rasputin’s death, and despite extensive research by historians combing through all available MI6 records, no clear evidence has surfaced linking the British to his murder.

Some arguments against Rayner, however, don’t hold up. A book arguing that Rayner was the murderer claims that the bullet wound in Rasputin’s head could only have been inflicted by 'a professional hitman.' But as we know, the bullet was shot at point-blank range while Rasputin was already lying on the ground—hardly the precision of an expert.

The murder itself was far from a clean execution. Police Chief Serda described Rasputin’s death as the result of 'incompetent' killers whose methods were more clumsy than anything he had encountered in his entire career.

In short, this wasn’t the work of a secret agent.

1. The British Spy Who May Have Been Behind His Death

According to the autopsy, every bullet that struck Rasputin came from a different caliber firearm, meaning that at least three individuals, or at least three different guns, must have been involved in his killing.

While the bullet wounds to his stomach and kidney might have been caused by the guns of Yusupov and Purishkevich, the shot to his skull was different. It was inflicted with a revolver, most likely a .455 Webley—a weapon none of the conspirators had on them.

However, Oswald Rayner, a British associate of Yusupov, was known to carry a .455 Webley on him at all times. Though Yusupov denies Rayner’s involvement, many believe Rayner fired the fatal shot, acting on orders from British Intelligence.

The British had a strong motive for wanting Rasputin dead. He was attempting to mediate peace between Russia and Germany, and if his peace treaty had succeeded, it could have shifted the balance of World War I in favor of the Germans, potentially leading to an Allied defeat.

A letter exists that seems to confirm this. On January 7, 1917, Stephen Alley, stationed in Petrograd, sent a communication to England stating:

Our objective has clearly been achieved. The reaction to the death of the 'Dark Forces' has been positive, though a few uncomfortable questions have been raised about broader involvement.

Rayner is handling any remaining matters and will undoubtedly brief you upon your return.