Descendants lay claim to the Kremlin...

I hear that Dracula has also filed a claim for the castle in Transylvania :O(

The Russian state has been given a month by a court to prove it owns the Kremlin after descendants of Ivan the Terrible filed a lawsuit to stake their claim to the Moscow landmark.

The Princes Foundation, an organisation representing the descendants of Rurik, a ninth century prince whose eponymous dynasty ruled until 1598, has argued that its ancestors built and lived in the 69-acre Kremlin complex and that it should now be returned to their ownership.

“I want to remind the Russian authorities that the Kremlin belongs to the Ruriks,” said Grand Prince Valery Kubarev, 47, a Moscow businessman who said his family traced its roots back to the Viking chieftain.

The problem for the state is that no official ownership of the Kremlin has ever been registered. The prince wants his foundation to be awarded management rights over the sprawling complex, for the head of the Russian Orthodox Church to be housed there, and for his foundation to be allowed to hold cultural, political and religious events inside its famous walls.

“The property was not purchased from us, was not lawfully taken away from us, and the federal authorities do not have any right to our property. The Ruriks demand the return of our property, rent from the government for the illegal possession of our property, and financial compensation,” he said.

Source: The Telegraph