Nikolai Levichev, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma, Chairman of the Chamber of deputies of A JUST RUSSIA condemned the poll run by TV channel Dozhd (Rain) on the siege of Leningrad: "Could the lives of Leningrad residents have been saved if the city had been surrendered to the Nazi troops?" The parliamentarian estimated the initiative of the channel as inadmissible and sacrilegious.

Nikolai Levichev said that in general, all hypothetical talks and discussions about historical events are unacceptable, especially during the days of nationwide sorrow.

He remembered his childhood spent in the city of Pushkin that was captured by the fascists during the war. "I still remember quite well the damage they did to the Pushkin Lyceum and the Catherine’s Palace, even the Palace Cathedral was used as a horse stable. It is absurd to believe that fascists had at least some humanistic motives," stressed the deputy.

Later the Dozhd Channel admitted the poll to be an error and extended apologies.