The article analyzes evaluations by N. Leskov of L. Tolstoy’s works in 1870-1880s. Unlike works in which the newspaper publications were utilized as a support material rather than a subject of special research itself, in this work, publicistic speeches of Leskov became the material of the study. The article covers the period from the first publication of Leskov about Tolstoy (1869) to the beginning of their personal acquaintance (1887), which includes both Leskov’s enthusiastic remarks on Tolstoy’s works and his sharp rejection of the theory of non-resistance to evil and Tolstoy’s views on the women’s question. We review the publications in which Leskov pays attention to the way how Tolstoy depicted pictures of death. In this article we do not aim to study the artistic thanatology, the emphasis is made on Leskov’s analysis of the literary experience of comprehension of death in the works of his great contemporary. On the basis of newspaper publications it is concluded that being under the influence of the talent of Tolstoy, Leskov managed to preserve independence of judgment.