Mikhail Gorbachev’s Funeral Is Snubbed By Putin As Russians Bid Farewell To The Last Leader Of The USSR
The Russian people bade farewell on Saturday to the last leader of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev at a funeral that was snubbed by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
A public farewell ceremony for Gorbachev, who died this week at the age of 91, came to an end this week despite the fact that people were still waiting outside their turn to pay their respects. It lasted for about three and a half hours in total.
The ceremony was held in the Hall of Columns in Moscow, a historical venue that has hosted the state funerals of Soviet leaders like Joseph Stalin and Vladimir Lenin over the years.
At the Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow, Gorbachev was buried along with his wife Raisa later in the day.
Despite being lionized in the West for ending the Cold War, Gorbachev is considered a pariah at home for causing the economic chaos that led to the creation of conditions that made a strongman like Putin attractive to many Russians in the first place.
The president of Russia has blamed Gorbachev for the demise of the Soviet Union, which he called the “greatest geopolitical catastrophe” of the 20th century, and has set about restoring its damaged reputation.
As a result of the work schedule he has, Putin was not able to attend the funeral on Saturday, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
On Thursday, however, the Russian leader did take the time to pay his respects to Gorbachev.
Mikhail Gorbachev’s Funeral Is Snubbed By Putin As Russians Bid Farewell To The Last Leader Of The USSR
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In the video footage, Putin can be seen laying a bouquet of roses by the open coffin of the deceased in the Central Clinical Hospital. The Russian leader then bowed and made the sign of the cross.
On Saturday afternoon, hundreds of people gathered outside the Hall of Columns to pay their last respects to Gorbachev, whose body lay in an open casket flanked by two soldiers in the ornate, chandelier-adorned room in which Gorbachev was buried.
Several members of Gorbachev’s family attended the event, including his daughter Irina Virganskaya and his two granddaughters, who were seated on the side.
The ordinary Russians who came to pay their respects laid roses and bouquets as well as took photographs of the deceased.
One of the Russian citizens who came wanted to thank Gorbachev for opening Russia to the world and bringing democracy to the country.
An additional woman told Reuters that she believed the former Soviet leader “deserved” to be farewelled in a proper way.
She said, “I think he did more good than bad. The older generation that is here, they remember him and they came here to say goodbye. That is what it is all about,” she said.
As the Kremlin did not want to classify it as a state funeral for Gorbachev, its spokesperson said Saturday’s events would have “elements of a state funeral,” including a guard of honor and the state providing assistance in the event’s organization.
In spite of the fact that no explanation was provided as to how this event differed from previous state funerals,
In recent years, Gorbachev has become more critical of Vladimir Putin and his increasingly restrictive regime as a result of the foundation he founded, and has traveled the world promoting free speech and democracy.
In spite of the fact that Gorbachev himself did not comment on Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine, his foundation called for peace negotiations, saying, “there is nothing more precious than a human life in the world.”.
At a farewell ceremony held in Moscow’s Hall of Columns on Saturday, the coffin containing the body of Mikhail Gorbachev was carried in for a farewell ceremony.
It was Nikita Khrushchev, who was deposed for attempting to roll back the Stalinist reforms, who was the last Russian leader who did not receive a state funeral.
Having lived in seclusion for most of his life, he died in 1971, and his funeral was held in a semi-secretive manner.
There was a marked contrast between Saturday’s funeral and that of the first democratically elected president of Russia, Boris Yeltsin, who had handpicked Putin as his successor when Yeltsin died in 1999.
It was reported that the Kremlin declared a day of national mourning in 2007 following the death of Yeltsin, and the funeral was attended by world leaders such as Putin, former US Presidents Bill Clinton and George Bush, British former Prime Minister John Major, and Prince Andrew, as well as former Polish President Lech Walesa.
Since Moscow has banned hundreds of foreign politicians from entering Russia as a form of retaliation for Western sanctions, Gorbachev’s funeral did not have a similar roster of famous guests.
The Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and the US Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan were among the few dignitaries who attended the remembrance ceremony.
In an interview with CNN, Sullivan called Gorbachev “a remarkable man” and a “statesman who changed the face of the world with his vision for peace, for transformation, both within his own country and throughout the world.”.