The last leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, is remembered for perestroika and glasnost, policies that radically reformed the Soviet Union and ultimately led to the collapse of the communist Eastern Bloc and the end of the Cold War.
The last leader of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev will be buried today in Moscow. He died in Moscow at the age of 91.
The commemoration, which is open to all, will be held at the building of trade unions in Moscow and is scheduled to start in the morning. Funerals are not state funerals, although the state has participated in their arrangements.
According to the Kremlin spokesman, the president Vladimir Putin schedules do not allow the president to attend the funeral. However, Putin went to say goodbye to Gorbachev with his coffin on Thursday.
Gorbachev criticized the administration of Russian President Vladimir Putin for backing away from the process that perestroika started. The lack of freedom of speech and communication and the desire to make reforms without the participation of citizens were criticized. According to Gorbachev, the ruling United Russia party was like the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, but even worse.
As the Ukraine crisis raged in 2014, however, Gorbachev sought understanding for Putin’s policies and warned of a new Cold War when he attended the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.
The Moscow House of Trade Unions has hosted funerals for many Soviet leaders in the past. Events have been held in the pillared hall of the house, among other things Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin funeral ceremonies.
Gorbachev is buried after the memorial service for his wife Raisan next to the Novodevichy cemetery. Gorbachev was 91 years old when he died. He was the first Russian leader who lived to be over 90 years old.
The reformer of the Soviet Union is remembered in Russia in conflicting ways
Gorbachev is known as the father of perestroika and glasnost – reform and openness – that led to the opening of the Soviet Union. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990. His policies played a central role in the end of the Cold War and the breakup of the Soviet Union, for which he has been criticized in the Russian media.
President Putin has also lamented the fall of the Soviet Union. After Gorbachev’s death, Putin commented that Gorbachev had a significant influence on the course of world history.
Heads of state around the world have remembered Gorbachev with respect and have spoken of him as a man of peace. President of the United States Joe Biden said Gorbachev had brought more freedom to millions of people and created a safer world.
In Berlin, mourning will be held on Saturday in memory of Gorbachev.