In the published footage, the man criticizes his daughter, scolds her for "extra pounds" and forces her to train, despite the child's hysteria. At the same time, everything is filmed on camera and laughs behind the scenes at her tears.
"I can't feel sorry for her all the time. And in the video, I simply do not shoot moments when I feel sorry for my daughter, "Lebedev explained.
The man confirmed that in the footage published by figure skating columnist Elena Rodina, where the girl is thrown on the floor, he really is. At the same time, he stated that there was no aggression.
"This video is at least seven months old. I don't remember the whole situation. Yes, we are in the video. How could this be? We held the same bag during some dispute, pulled it to each other, Mira's hands fell off this bag, and it fell, "said Mikhail Lebedev.
He also described how he reacts to criticism of his methods of raising his daughter.
"There's a lot of hate, but he doesn't touch us at all. Many essays, fantasies and other illusions. Unfortunately, we are also not Olympic champions or even people's artists to comment on such situations," Lebedev said.
Child psychologist Natalia Naumova commented on RT footage with the girl's training.
"It is important that the child has an interest in the goal. When a child is hard, in pain, it is important to pity, hug, kiss, praise, admire ... It is a deliberately false idea that big sport cannot exist without fear and humiliation. Can. And it should be," she said.
In turn, the head of the figure skating school, Anastasia Grebyonkina, told RT that the father does not beat the girl, "and until then we cannot interfere."
"Sometimes a parent coach is a good thing. Sometimes it's bad. 50-50, there are good examples and there are not so much. It all depends on the family, on the coach and the child as well," she said.
She spoke out against such methods of upbringing as that of Mikhail Lebedev, but stressed that what is happening in the video is primarily a personal matter of the family.