Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev Dies at 91 Years Old

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy New York=Special Correspondent Joselgina] Mikhail Gorbachev, former President of the Soviet Union, has passed away, Russian news agencies reported on the 30th (local time). He was 91 years old.

Russian news agencies such as TASS and Interfax cited the Russian Central Clinical Hospital, reporting that former President Gorbachev died this evening after a long battle with illness.

Born in 1931, former President Gorbachev served as the supreme leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to 1991 and was the figure who ended the long Cold War.

Also famously known by the nickname "Gorbi," he promoted the Perestroika policy that dismantled the authoritarian socialist system. He is regarded in the West as a key figure in the end of the Cold War, having effectively allowed the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the reunification of East and West Germany the following year.

However, as the Soviet Union experienced political turmoil including a military coup attempt, it dissolved in December 1991, and Gorbachev received negative evaluations in Russia itself. When he ran in the 2000 Russian presidential election, Vladimir Putin was elected, and Gorbachev's approval rating was less than 1% at that time.

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