I think that’s where the revolutionaries kept Czar Nicholas II and his family in the basement for a while, then came down and shot them all dead.
It was, I guess I just don’t get the connection to the editorial. Perhaps the author is suggesting all the “Czars”, I call them commisars, should be dealt with like van Jones, but if that’s the case, it’s a tad too close to dealing with them like Nicholas II. Thinking about it, I suppose that’s the connection the author was making, down with the Czar(s).