Gorbachev’s funeral, Kremlin says
Vladimir Putin is to skip the funeral of the last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, the Kremlin has said.
The Russian president’s spokesman said he was unable to attend Saturday’s service due to scheduling constraints and had instead paid his respects on Thursday by laying flowers at Mr Gorbachev’s coffin at the Moscow hospital where his body is being kept.
“Regrettably, the president’s working schedule wouldn’t allow him to do that on Saturday, so he decided to do that today,” Dmitry Peskov said.
Mr Gorbachev, who died on Tuesday, will be buried at Moscow's Novodevichy cemetery next to his wife Raisa after a farewell ceremony to be held at the Pillar Hall of the House of the Unions, a historic mansion near the Kremlin that has served as the venue for state funerals since Soviet times.
Dozens of high-ranking politicians, poets, royals and intellectuals have been buried at the cemetery since it was established in the 16th century – among them Boris Yeltsin, who was Russia’s first president and Gorbachev’s political rival. But Nikita Khrushchev is the only other Soviet leader buried there, with most others having been laid to rest beside the walls of the Kremlin on Red Square.
Asked if Mr Gorbachev would be given a state funeral, Mr Peskov said the funeral would have "elements" of a state funeral, such as honorary guards, and the government would help organise them.
Mr Putin's decision to pay a private visit to the hospital while staying away from Saturday's public farewell ceremony, combined with uncertainty surrounding the funeral's status, reflect the Kremlin's divided thinking on the legacy of Mr Gorbachev.
Mr Putin said he “deeply understood that reforms were necessary” and strove to offer his own solutions to the problems faced by the Soviet Union in the 1980s. He also credited the “great humanitarian, charitable, education activities” carried out by Gorbachev.
Expressing his condolences to his family, the Russian president said in a statement: “He led our country during a period of complex, dramatic changes, large-scale foreign policy, economic and social challenges.”
The Kremlin’s ambivalent view of Mr Gorbachev was mirrored by state television broadcasts, which paid tribute to the former leader as a historic figure but described his reforms as poorly planned and held him responsible for failing to safeguard the country’s interests in dialogue with the West.
Mr Gorbachev’s passing was the first item on Russia’s flagship Channel One news bulletin, where a five-minute retrospective emphasised his common touch and desire to improve the Soviet economy. But it also suggested that he had lacked decisiveness and had trusted the United States too much.
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