State Duma deputy Vitaly Milonov stated that “the ancestors of [deputies of the St. Petersburg Legislative Assembly] Boris Lazarevich Vishnevsky and Maxim Lvovich Reznik boiled Christians in cauldrons and gave them to wild animals to be torn apart.” Despite this, Christians survived, Milonov noted.

Milonov made his statement after the religious procession near St. Isaac's Cathedral. Milonov is in favor of transferring the cathedral to the control of the Russian Orthodox Church, while Vishnevsky and Reznik are against it.

On January 23, another State Duma deputy, Pyotr Tolstoy, made an anti-Semitic statement regarding the transfer of St. Isaac's Cathedral. "People who are the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of those who destroyed our churches, jumping out there... from beyond the Pale of Settlement with a revolver in 1917, today their grandchildren and great-grandchildren, working in various other highly respected places - at radio stations, in legislative assemblies - continue the work of their grandfathers and great-grandfathers," he said. The Federation of Jewish Communities criticized Tolstoy. The deputy later said that he regretted his words.
The Governor of Saint Petersburg Georgy Poltavchenko has ordered the transfer of St. Isaac's Cathedral to the control of the Russian Orthodox Church. Protests against this are taking place in the city. Milonov and Tolstoy support Poltavchenko's decision.

Milonov: Ancestors of deputies Reznik and Vishnevsky boiled Christians in cauldrons