This sentence appeared on his Common Sense YouTube Channel (Kanal zdravogo smysla).
“I would like to officially address the former Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation, Comrade Medinsky. The fact is that he recently allowed himself in an interview with one of the bloggers to declare, answering a question about my position for the reasons of the war of 1812, that this, as he put it, is nonsense. For these words, Comrade Medinsky, you will have to answer.
I would like to formally challenge him to a public debate. For the public, citizens of the Russian Federation, the scientific community, to compare the arguments of the two sides - the author of the monumental monograph about the war of 1812, that is, me, and the aforementioned former minister, and draw their own conclusions. The main condition is live broadcast. It can be any federal channel, any kind of liberal type of "Rain". This is a matter of principle.
I think that if he refuses public debate, then I will consider it cowardice ... Because I am a leading expert on the topic, and, of course, for such insulting words addressed to my scientific activity, one must answer. By the way, I will remind you that the former member of the RVIO and, so to speak, a friend of Medinsky's Sokolov has already lost two trials to me and is now serving a sentence in a colony in connection with murder, dismemberment and illegal possession of weapons.
The comic of the situation is that Medinsky advertised in every possible way the speeches and lectures of Sokolov, who is of the opinion that, in fact, Russia is to blame for unleashing the war of 1812. Moreover, it was he who stole specific ideas regarding this from me. So you see how everything in history is connected. And this is how Sokolov is responsible for his vyakaniya, so it is necessary to answer Medinsky".