Mikhail Gorbachev, last Soviet leader, dies at 91

His death was announced on Tuesday by Russian news agencies, who said Gorbachev had died at a central hospital in Moscow "after a serious and long illness".His life was one of the most influential of his times, and his reforms as Soviet leader transformed his country and allowed Eastern Europe to free itself from Soviet rule.He spent much of the past two decades on the political periphery, intermittently calling for the Kremlin and the White House to mend ties as tensions soared to Cold War levels after Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 and launched an offensive in Ukraine earlier this year.His relationship with President Vladimir Putin was difficult at times, but the Russian leader nonetheless expressed his "deep sympathies" after Gorbachev's death. Gorbachev spent the twilight years of his life in and out of hospital with increasingly fragile health and observed self-quarantine during the pandemic as a precaution against the coronavirus. He won the Nobel Peace Prize for negotiating a historic nuclear arms pact with US leader Ronald Reagan, and his decision to withhold the Soviet army when the Berlin Wall fell a year earlier was seen as key to preserving Cold War peace.UN chief Antonio Guterres praised Gorbachev as "a one-of-a-kind statesman who changed the course of history" and "did more than any other individual to bring about the peaceful end of the Cold War"."In a time of Putin's aggression in Ukraine, his tireless commitment to opening up Soviet society remains an example to us all," he said in a Twitter post.French President Emmanuel Macron praised him as a "man of peace whose choices opened up a path of liberty for Russians. His commitment to peace in Europe changed our shared history."At home, Gorbachev remained a controversial figure and had a difficult relationship with Putin.Many Russians still look back fondly to the Soviet period, and Putin leans on its achievements to buttress Russia's claim to greatness and his own prestige.From then on, Gorbachev was relegated to the sidelines, devoting himself to educational and humanitarian projects. Over the years he saw many of his major achievements rolled back by Putin.An early supporter of Russia's leading independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta, founded in 1993, he donated part of his Nobel winnings to help it buy its first computers. Novaya Gazeta, whose chief editor Dmitry Muratov last year won the Nobel Peace Prize, suspended publication in late March after Moscow's military intervention in Ukraine.Uniquely among Soviet leaders, Gorbachev made no secret of his warm and supportive relationship with his wife Raisa, an elegant woman who often appeared in public with him and whose premature death from cancer was a devastating blow.bur/smw... Via news.com.au — Australia’s leading news site https://www.news.com.au