Status: 03.09.2022 12:46 p.m
Thousands of people bid farewell to Mikhail Gorbachev in Moscow. A line formed in front of the building where the coffin was laid out. Hungary’s Prime Minister Orban also attended the funeral service.
Several thousand people bid farewell to former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev in Moscow. Mourners walked past the open coffin flanked by guards of honor and laid flowers. Gorbachev’s daughter Irina and his two granddaughters sat next to the coffin laid out in the House of Unions. The building was open to the public, and a long line formed in front of it. According to the AP news agency, the rush was so great that the time frame for the public farewell was extended by an hour.
The memorial service for the Nobel Peace Prize winner took place without much pomp – and also without Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Kremlin referred to its busy schedule as justification. Putin paid his last respects to Gorbachev at his coffin on Thursday. As a co-owner of the newspaper “Novaya Gazeta”, which was critical of the Kremlin, the deceased had criticized, among other things, restrictions on press freedom and other authoritarian power moves under Putin.
Numerous people were waiting in front of the trade union house near the Kremlin, many had flowers with them.
Image: EPA
Orban and Medvedev at funeral service
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev attended the funeral service and laid flowers at the coffin. Because of the war, many Western countries were only represented at the funeral service by their ambassadors. Germany is represented by the chargé d’affaires of the embassy.
Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban was one of the few foreign politicians among the guests. Despite Western sanctions over Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, Orban has maintained good relations with President Vladimir Putin. His spokesman told the state news agency MTI that the head of government wanted to “pay his last respects to Gorbachev on the stretcher.”
Appreciated in Germany, criticized in Russia
Gorbachev, who is considered an important pioneer of German unity, died on Tuesday at the age of 91. He led the Soviet Union as its last president from 1985 to 1991. In Russia, Gorbachev is held responsible by many for the collapse of the Soviet Union, and with it the decline in Russia’s greatness. Accordingly, no national day of mourning was declared for him. There is also no state funeral.
However, Gorbachev enjoyed a high reputation, especially in Germany. He is considered one of the fathers of German unity. The deceased is to be buried in Moscow’s celebrity cemetery at the Novodevichy Convent – next to his wife Raisa.