Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Sept 2: Russian President Vladimir Putin will not attend the funeral of the last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev.
After a public ceremony on Saturday in Moscow’s Hall of Columns, Gorbachev who was revered in the West for enabling eastern Europe to break free from Soviet communist rule but despised at home for the upheaval his “perestroika” reforms sparked will be laid to rest.
The funerals for Soviet leaders Josef Stalin, Leonid Brezhnev, and Vladimir Lenin were held in the magnificent hall, which was visible from the Kremlin. Although Gorbachev will receive a military guard of honour, there won’t be a state funeral.
Gorbachev passed away on Tuesday at the age of 91, and on Thursday, state television showed Putin sadly laying red roses by his open casket, as is customary in Russia. Putin touched the edge of the coffin for a split second after making the Russian Orthodox sign of the cross.
“Unfortunately, the president’s work schedule will not allow him to do this on Sept. 3, so he decided to do it today,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
He said that the state was assisting to organise Gorbachev’s ceremony and that it would include “features” of a state funeral.
Though it will be a stark contrast to Yeltsin’s funeral, who played a key role in removing Gorbachev as the Soviet Union disintegrated and personally chose Putin, a former KGB intelligence officer, as the person best equipped to follow him.
