London – Although it took place on Saturday, President Vladimir Putin did not attend Mikhail Gorbachev’s funeral in Moscow this morning (3), claiming that he would not attend the “work programme”.
The last Soviet leader, who died on Monday (30) at the age of 91, left his mark in history as a reformist who created perestroika (series of reforms) and glasnost (openness) and ruled the country between 1985 and 1991 before falling apart. of the Soviet Union.
Vladimir Putin made a statement during the week through his press secretary that he would not attend the funeral, but state media covered scenes of a solitary and silent visit to Gorbachev leaving a bouquet of flowers at the shroud. red on the coffin.
If Putin belittled the 1990 Nobel Peace Prize winner, many Russians showed respect to their former president. From the early hours of the morning, queues formed in front of the Chamber of Trade Unions, where the funeral ceremony was held.
В Доме союзов началась церемония прощания с Михаилом Горбачёвым. Рядом собралась длинная очередь из россиян, которые хотят проститься с единственным президентим.
На церемонию также должен приехать премьер-министр Венгрии Виктор Орбан. Владимир Путин на похороны не придёт. pic.twitter.com/VCtBEopCZr
— Андрей Пивоваров (@brewerov) September 3, 2022
According to the Gorbachev Foundation, the place chosen for the burial is the Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow, next to his wife Raisa, who died of cancer in 1999.
With the separation of Russia from the world due to the war in Ukraine, few foreign leaders were present. But many countries paid tribute to the man remembered for allowing Eastern European countries to free themselves from Soviet rule and for signing a historic nuclear arms reduction treaty with the United States.
Germany announced that flags will be flown at half-mast in Berlin on Saturday in memory of Gorbachev, who held back Soviet troops during the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
At the funeral, the differences between Putin and Gorbachev were not put aside
The government and President Vladimir Putin’s departure from the world-famous leader’s farewell ceremony was the subject of criticism. No national mourning was declared, as were the deaths of other important political figures in the country.
One of Gorbachev’s few concessions was a guard of honor next to the coffin during his funeral.
The differences between Gorbachev and Putin were clear. The current president, who uses the past of Soviet glory as one of his narratives to justify the invasion of Ukraine, The dissolution of the Soviet Union, attributed to Gorbachev, has been described as “the greatest geopolitical disaster of the century”.
Gorbachev was a strong critic of Putin’s government policies and opposed war with Ukraine two days after the invasion.
In the latest statement released by the Gorbachev Foundation, he said:
We reaffirm the need for an immediate cessation of hostilities and the immediate resumption of peace negotiations with regard to Russia’s military operation in Ukraine, which began on February 24. There is nothing in the world more valuable than human life.
Negotiations and dialogue based on mutual respect and recognition of interests are the only possible way to resolve contradictions and the most acute problems. We support any effort to continue the negotiation process.
Gorbachev died in hospital, but the cause of death was not disclosed. He had been hospitalized regularly recently.
Appointed General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU in 1985, he commanded the then Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union, created the office of president and abolished the constitution’s clause on party leadership.
Gorbachev resigned as president on December 25, 1991, when the Soviet Union ceased to exist but continued to play a leading role in international politics.
He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990. A supporter of freedom of expression and press freedom, he used some of the prize money to finance the independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta.
In 2021, the newspaper’s founder and editor, Dimitry Muratov, won the Nobel Peace Prize for defying the censorship and repression of the Vladimir Putin regime.
Also Read | How Gorbachev Flagged Russian Journalism by Funding the 2021 Nobel Peace Laureate’s Newspaper
source: Noticias
