The Assassination of Alexander II of Russia

On March 13, 1881 (March 1 O.S.), Hryniewiecki was a part of the "fighting squad" who attacked Tsar Alexander II, who was passing down Nevsky Prospekt near the Winter Palace. When the first bomb went off, Alexander reflected a moment and said he wanted to have a look at the spot where the explosion had occurred. He walked over to the funnel-shaped pit formed by the bomb. The Cossack and the boy were still lying where they had fallen. He expressed solicitude for them. Many of the guards, rushed up to see and asked him if he was hurt, "Thank God! no," said the Tsar. "Come, let us look after the wounded." When his curiosity was satisfied, he was ready to drive away, Hryniewiecki who was leaning against the railing with a parcel in his hands, turned to face the Emperor and before any one could stop him, he shouted: "It is too soon to thank God yet, Alexander Nikolaevich," and raised both arms and made a sudden movement. There was a second deafening explosion.

On the shattered flagstones of the sidewalk near the railing the Tsar was lying in a pool of blood. He was fatally wounded in the explosion and died a few hours later. Beside him lay his attacker, Hryniewiecki, who was also gravely wounded and unconscious.
The assassination had been meant to ignite revolution. Hryniewiecki's fellow-conspirators — Nikolai Kibalchich, Sophia Perovskaya, Nikolai Rysakov, Timofei Mikhailov, Andrei Zhelyabov — were sentenced to death and were hanged on April 3, 1881. They were buried in an anonymous common grave.