Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia in 1918, Princess Helena Petrovna, the wife of Anastasia's distant cousin, Prince John Constantinovich of Russia, reported that a guard brought a girl who called herself Anastasia Romanova to her cell and asked if the girl was the daughter of the Tsar. Helena Petrovna said she did not recognize the girl and the guard took her away. Although other witnesses in Perm later reported that they saw Anastasia, her mother and sisters in Perm after the murders, this story is now widely discredited. Rumors that they were alive were fueled by deliberate misinformation designed to hide the fact that the
Maria Alekseyevna of Russia convent, and passed messages and money between Lopukhina and her son Alexei Petrovich. When Alexei Petrovich left Russia, she met him on the way and brought a letter from him to his mother. After the arrest of Alexei, Maria was taken in custody accused of having assisted his escape. She was imprisoned, first in prison and then in house arrest in Saint Petersburg. She was released in 1721. Maria Alekseyevna of Russia Tsarevna Maria Alekseyevna (; 18 January 1660 - 9 March 1723) was a Russian Princess, daughter of Tsar Alexis of Russia and Maria Miloslavskaya, sister of Tsar Feodor