On the night of July 17, 1918, in the Ipatiev House, four more people were shot alongside the royal family: doctor Evgeny Botkin, maid Anna Demidova, valet Alexei Trupp, and cook Ivan Kharitonov. Kharitonov's grandson still lives and works in St. Petersburg. According to one version, Ivan Mikhailovich was an orphan, while another states he was raised in the family of an official close to the court. At 12, he began working in the kitchen and soon became a second-class cook. From 1891 to 1894, Kharitonov served in the navy as a ship's cook, then returned to the imperial kitchen as a senior cook.

Kharitonov respected Nicholas II both as a person and as a tsar, which is why he voluntarily accompanied him into exile in Tobolsk and then in Yekaterinburg. Before their departure, some of the tsar's close associates sensed danger. Valet Volkov approached Kharitonov and suggested giving the gold watch to the family, to which the cook replied, "Whatever happens, we must hope for the best until the end." In exile, living conditions were harsh, food was often scarce, and part of the rations was stolen by the guards. Kharitonov tried to prepare tasty dishes from cereals, vermicelli, canned meat, and vegetables. The tsar even once said, "You feed me well, Ivan."

One day, while the Romanov family was having lunch, a Red Army soldier brazenly stuck a spoon into the empress's plate, tasted the soup, and maliciously remarked, "You are still being fed, after all." In her diary, the empress wrote: "They brought meat for 6 days, but so little that it will only be enough for soup. Kharitonov made a pasta pie because there was no meat." The cook also worked with the emperor's children, teaching them how to bake bread, showing them how to knead and shape dough, and bake bread.

During the shooting, Ivan Kharitonov was one of the first to die. After the gunfire, several people remained alive, albeit severely wounded, including Tsarevich Alexei and maid Anna Demidova. They were finished off with bayonets.