Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union, was put to rest in a Moscow ceremony without the pageantry of a state burial and with Russian President Vladimir Putin conspicuously absent.
The Western favorite Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, survived to witness all his reforms in Russia reversed. He was laid to rest on Saturday with no state pomp or Putin in sight.
Muscovites were permitted to observe Gorbachev`s casket in the grand Hall of Columns, within sight of the Kremlin, where former Soviet leaders have indeed been mourned. Gorbachev died on Tuesday at the age of 91.
However, Putin, a former KGB intelligence officer who referred to the fall of the Soviet Union as a "geopolitical calamity," prevented a full public burial service for Gorbachev. Putin also excused his absence due to prior commitments.
While in office from 1985 to 1991, Gorbachev tried to introduce democratic changes to the Soviet Union.
Many Russians hold him responsible for the collapse of the Soviet Union and the decline of Russia`s international standing.
NMS
