There will be no state funeral for Mikhail Gorbachev, but a memorial service in Moscow will be open to the public.
Saana Uosukainen,
Ilmari Reunamäki,
Olli-Pekka Sulasma
The last leader of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev will go to rest in the grave today in Moscow. The memorial service has begun and people are lining up for Gorbachev’s open casket to say goodbye to the former leader.
Gorbachev died earlier this week in Moscow at the age of 91. His funeral is not a state funeral, but the state has participated in the funeral arrangements.
Gorbachev’s coffin will be put on display in Moscow on Saturday so that people can say goodbye to him.
Before the burial, a memorial ceremony will be held for Gorbachev at the House of Trade Unions, a historic building in central Moscow. State funerals have been organized in the mansion in question since Soviet times.
The reputation of the last president of the Soviet Union in today’s Russia is low due to the fall of the Soviet Union, although in the West he is respected for his involvement in the end of the Cold War. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990.
There is a military honor guard at the funeral, but it was denied the status of a state funeral.
President of Russia Vladimir Putin will not attend the funeral, but he went to pay his respects at the open casket on Thursday. Putin has long lamented the fall of the Soviet Union, and he commented that Gorbachev had a significant impact on the course of world history.
Gorbachev is buried in Novodevichy Cemetery by his wife Raisa Gorbachevna beside. Soviet leaders Nikita Khrushchev and the President of Russia Boris Yeltsin is buried in the same cemetery.