105 years ago, on October 16, 1914, Prince Oleg Konstantinovich, a member of the Imperial Blood, was modestly buried after dying from wounds received on October 10 in battle near Vilno.

The son of Grand Duke and renowned Russian poet Konstantin Konstantinovich Romanov, Oleg was a brave 21-year-old cornet who voluntarily wished to serve in the regular army.

On October 10, near Vilno, the cavalry outposts of the Russian army discovered the enemy. Cornet Romanov was the first to charge at the Germans, outpacing his comrades, and crashed into the enemy ranks. In a brief skirmish, he was mortally wounded by a shot from one of the Germans, whom he had knocked off his horse.

All the Germans were either destroyed or captured, but the Russian cavalry suffered a heavy loss in the form of the prince. Oleg Konstantinovich believed that his sacrifice would strengthen the bond between the people and the throne.

The next day, October 11, Oleg was taken to Vilno and operated on. That evening, for his displayed bravery, he was awarded the Order of Saint George 4th class, which was presented to him by his father on October 12.

The dying prince saw the order being pinned to him, earned at the cost of his life, and was happy. A few hours later, Oleg Konstantinovich passed away, not reaching the age of 22.

The funeral took place at the family estate of Ostashevo on October 16, 1914.

Two years later, a burial church was built over his grave. After the Bolsheviks came to power, the graves in the burial church were desecrated and destroyed. The golden saber with which Oleg went into his final battle was stolen, and his body was thrown onto the road, where it lay for about a week before being buried. Oleg's brothers were brutally murdered in 1918 in Alapayevsk, thrown alive into a well and bombarded with grenades.