Mikhail Gorbachev, who ended the Cold War, dies aged 91
Aug 31, 2022
Mikhail Gorbachev, who led the Soviet Union from 1985 until its collapse in 1991, died in Moscow, Russian news agencies say.
Aug 31, 2022
Mikhail Gorbachev, who led the Soviet Union from 1985 until its collapse in 1991, died in Moscow, Russian news agencies say.
Gorbachev, the leader who helped end the Cold War and presided over the breakup of the Soviet Union, was 91 years old.
Born in 1931 to a poor farming family of Russian and Ukrainian heritage, he rose to become the most powerful man in the communist government.
He initiated a vast programme of political, economic and social change — glasnost and perestroika — which won him praise in the West as Eastern Europe moved away from Communism and soviet influence.
But he was blamed in Russia for unleashing forces that led to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Al Jazeera's @Victoria Gatenby looks back on his life.
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