 Although the Tsar and Tsarina with their children were there nearby at the Ipatiev House, they were unable to make contact.After two weeks, the Ural Regional Soviet decided once again to transfer Grand Duke Sergei and the other Romanovs in his group.On 18 May 1918, they were told that they were to be taken to the town of Alapayevsk, in the northern Urals, from Yekaterinburg, and ordered to quickly pack.