Poor Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev. Condemned to a thousand obituaries, some bleating about freedom and celebrating his part in the end of the Soviet Union and as a towering figure in international affairs, others condemning him for repression of secessionists at home.
Imagine how he feels now, wherever he is – lauded by non-Russians for his greatest mistake: destroying a mighty state. Hated by his countrymen despite precipitating the emergence of the Russian nation itself after many centuries of Empire!
Many ordinary Russians will be indifferent towards Gorbachev’s passing, grumbling that he screwed it all up and indirectly caused the war in Ukraine.
