Ipatiev House
The 16 men of the internal guard slept in the basement, hallway, and commandant's office during shifts. The external guard, led by Pavel Medvedev, numbered 56 and took over the Popov House opposite. The guards were allowed to bring in women for sex and drinking sessions in the Popov House and basement rooms of the Ipatiev House. There were four machine gun emplacements: one in the bell tower of the Voznesensky Cathedral aimed toward the house; a second in the basement window of the Ipatiev House facing the street; a third monitoring the balcony overlooking the garden at the back of the house; and a fourth in the attic overlooking the intersection, directly above the tsar and tsarina's bedroom. Ten guard posts were located in and around the Ipatiev House, and the exterior was patrolled twice hourly day and night. In early May, the guards moved the piano from the dining room, where the prisoners could play it, to the commandant's office next to the Romanovs' bedrooms. The guards would play the piano, while singing Russian revolutionary songs and drinking and smoking. They also listened to the Romanovs' records on the confiscated phonograph. The lavatory on the landing was also used by the guards, who scribbled political slogans and crude graffiti on the walls. The number of Ipatiev House guards totaled 300 at the time the imperial family was killed.