Former Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev Dies At 91

Sky News reports:

Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev has died at the age of 91, according to Russia’s Interfax News Agency. He was known for ending the Cold War without bloodshed but failed to prevent the break-up of the Soviet Union.

When pro-democracy protests swept across the Soviet bloc nations of communist Eastern Europe in 1989, he refrained from using force. This was unlike previous Kremlin leaders who had sent tanks to crush uprisings in Hungary in 1956 and Czechoslovakia in 1968.

But the demonstrations fuelled aspirations for autonomy in the 15 republics of the Soviet Union, which disintegrated over the next two years in chaotic fashion.

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BREAKING: Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union, has died “after a serious and long illness.” https://t.co/7RR5xjyuz1

— ABC News (@ABC) August 30, 2022

The Norwegian Helsinki Committee extends its condolences to friends and relatives of Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev (1931-2022). He will always be remembered for #Glasnost and #Perestroika. Russia will be a darker place without him. Sit tibi terra levis. pic.twitter.com/7Ns2mA1Rac

— Norwegian Helsinki Committee (@nhc_no) August 30, 2022