Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who ended the cold war peacefully, has died. He was 91.
Gorbachev was famously known for opening up the Soviet Union to the West and introducing a slew of reforms in the former Republic. The enigmatic leader, who came to power in 1985 was unable to prevent the collapse of the erstwhile Soviet Union, from which modern Russia was born.
Tributes poured in worldwide, with UN chief António Guterres saying he “changed the course of history”. “Mikhail Gorbachev was a one-of-a kind statesman,” UN Secretary General Mr Guterres wrote in a Twitter tribute. “The world has lost a towering global leader, committed multilateralist, and tireless advocate for peace.”
Mikhail Gorbachev was a one-of-a kind statesman who changed the course of history.
The world has lost a towering global leader, committed multilateralist, and tireless advocate for peace.
I’m deeply saddened by his passing. pic.twitter.com/giu2RHSjrQ
— António Guterres (@antonioguterres) August 30, 2022
The former premier passed away in a hospital in Moscow where he had been long suffering from a serious illness. In the recent past, Gorbachev has been in an out of hospital. It was reported in the international media in June that the former Soviet leader was suffering from a kidney ailment but this was not confirmed.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed his deepest condolences following Gorbachev’s death, according to his spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
US President Joe Biden addressed him as a “rare leader” and hailed Gorbachev as a unique politician who had the “imagination to see that a different future was possible”.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called him as a “trusted and respected leader” who “opened the way for a free Europe”. “This legacy is one we will not forget,” she added.
“In a time of Putin’s aggression in Ukraine, his tireless commitment to opening up Soviet society remains an example to us all,” said UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson adding that he admired Gorbachev’s courage and integrity.
Gorbachev, who in 1985 was named general secretary of the Soviet Communist Party, and de facto leader of the country, opened up the Soviet economy. The Soviet Union had been struggling for years to keep up with the US. Gorbachev’s policy of Perestroika aimed to introduce a few market-like reforms to change the state-run system.
Internationally he reached arms control deals with the US, refused to intervene when eastern European nations rose up against their Communist rulers and ended the bloody Soviet war in Afghanistan that had raged since 1979, according to the BBC.
Gorbachev’s radical policy of glasnost or openness allowed common people to criticise the Soviet leadership in a way which had been previously unimaginable.
After a chaotic and disorganized coup attempt by communist hardliners failed, Gorbachev dissolved the Soviet Union and left office.
