The article shows how the publication of previously unknown documents related to the battle for Leningrad in 1941–1944 helps us raise new questions and expands opportunities for the objective study of a complex subject. Documentary publications reveal activities of state authorities and administrators in a new light and uncover contradictory relationships between the highest party and military leadership of the country and leaders of Leningrad. This introduction of previously secret archival materials makes it possible to debunk stable myths associated with life in this blocked city. The publication of Plan “D,” which proposed mining Leningrad in the fall of 1941 in the case of a forced departure of soldiers, shows that this decision was made in Moscow, and accusations of cowardice and alarmism against Leningrad’s leaders at this time were unfounded. The publication of another valuable source, A.A.Zhdanov's Visitors Log, makes it possible to answer the question of who was Leningrad’s real leader, A.A.Zhdanov or A.A.Kuznetsov. Because the most important problem for Leningrad was providing food to citizens, the identification in the archives of relevant sources is of paramount importance: for example, activities of the Food Commission of the Military Council of the Leningrad Front.