MOSCOW - Thousands of Russians filed past the open casket of Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union, on Saturday with many saying they wanted to honour his memory as 'a peacemaker' who dismantled totalitarianism and gave them their freedom. Gorbachev, leader of the Soviet Union from 1985-1991, died on Tuesday aged 91. His body lay in state...
Mourners attend a memorial service for Mikhail Gorbachev at the Column Hall of the House of Unions in Moscow, Sept 3, 2022.MOSCOW - Thousands of Russians filed past the open casket of Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union, on Saturday with many saying they wanted to honour his memory as "a peacemaker" who dismantled totalitarianism and gave them their freedom.
Dmitry Muratov, editor-in-chief of the Novaya Gazeta newspaper and himself a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, headed a column of mourners carrying a portrait of his friend. Best known in the West for helping end the Cold War, reducing his country's nuclear stockpile, and for unwittingly presiding over the demise of the Soviet Union, Gorbachev's legacy still divides opinion inside and outside Russia.
"He wanted to give us democracy and freedom and we turned out to not be very ready yet," said Alexander Lebedev, a tycoon and close friend. Some saw Putin's no-show as a snub from a former KGB officer who has rolled back many of Gorbachev's reforms and has said he regards the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union as the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century that he would reverse if given a chance."And I don't think that Mr Putin is a particular fan of Mr Gorbachev. I think they saw the world very differently.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban flew in to pay his respects. But with Russia sanctioned by the West over what Putin calls his "special military operation" in Ukraine, other European and Western leaders were absent."Yes he made some serious socio-economic mistakes, but all that pales in comparison with what he did for the freedom of the press and for international relations. Stuff like the fall of the Berlin Wall," said Oleg, 22, a former history student.
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