Russian Culture Ministry’s lawyers, including the daughter of Marshal Zhukov, Era Zhukova, cinematographers Nikita Mikhalkov, Vladimir Bortko, Sergei Miroshnichenko, Igor Ugolnikov, Alexander Galibin, and Head of the Russian State Historical Museum Alexey Levykin, petitioned Culture Minister Vladimir Medinsky to withdraw the film's certification, saying "The Death of Stalin is aimed at inciting hatred and enmity, violating the dignity of the Russian (Soviet) people, promoting ethnic and social inferiority, which points to the movie’s extremist nature. We are confident that the movie was made to distort our country’s past so that the thought of the 1950s Soviet Union makes people feel only terror and disgust."[14] The authors said the film denigrated the memory of Russian World War II fighters. They pointed out that the National Anthem was accompanied with obscene expressions and offensive attitude, decorations were historically inaccurate, and that the planned release on the eve of the 75th Anniversary of the Battle of Stalingrad was "a spit in the face of all those who died there, and all those who are still alive".[15] The film was banned in Russia and Kyrgyzstan.[16] Armenia, Belarus and Kazakhstan are the only members of the Eurasian Economic Union to show it.