Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union, has died on August 30, 2022, in Moscow at the age of 91.
His death was announced by Russian news agencies, citing the government hospital where he was being treated, but no further details were immediately available.
Gorbachev led the Soviet Union from 1985 until its collapse in 1991.
He embarked on a path of radical reform that brought about the end of the Cold War, reversed the direction of the nuclear arms race and relaxed Communist Party controls in hopes of rescuing the faltering Soviet state but instead propelled it toward collapse,
The dissolution of the Soviet bloc — marked by Gorbachev’s resignation that year — ended the Cold War and years of confrontation between East and West, freed Eastern European nations from Soviet domination, and established the modern Russian state.
His death comes six months into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has intensified tensions between Moscow and the West.
Gorbachev will be buried in Moscow’s Novodevichy Cemetery next to his wife Raisa, who died in 1999, state-owned TASS reported, citing a source familiar with the family’s wishes.
Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his “deepest condolences” over Gorbachev’s death, his spokesperson said.
