epa04054494 Russian TV Dozhd (Rain) General Director Natalia Sindeyeva (L) and its main investor Alexander Vinokurov (R) attend a live news conference in the company studio in Moscow, Russia, 04 February 2014. Natalia Sindeyeva said that they probably will ask President Vladimir Putin for an involvment in a bid to save the liberal TV channel. TV Rain is an independent and private TV channel, that has gained big popularity in Russia, covering controversial topics of Russian political life. The crisis at the tv station was mainly caused by a controversial opinion poll where TV Rain asked Russians whether Leningrad (St Petersburg) should have been surrendered to German troops during the WWII blockade to save lives. The last major satellite TV operator, Trikolor, then switched TV Rain signal off and excluded them from their TV channel packages. Several other television companies also have dropped TV Rain. EPA/SERGEI CHIRIKOV