ALBAWABA - The Russian man who helped to bring an end to the Cold War and the final collapse of the Soviet Union has died. Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev passed away Tuesday at the age of 91.
Sad to read of the passing of Mikhail Gorbachev. Hard to think of other individuals who changed the course of world history in a positive direction more than he did. Always enjoyed our conversations.
— Michael McFaul (@McFaul) August 30, 2022
The social media is rife about news of the death of the man who became a world figure for the actions he took in the 1980s to bring the end of the deadly Cold War and the rivalry and competition between Russia and the USA to a blustering end and which also saw the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Gorbachev made 100+ thousand people with kids march in the irradiated Kyiv on May 1th 1986, while keeping the Chornobyl disaster secret.
— Danylo Mokryk (@DMokryk) August 30, 2022
In case you're somehow inclined to feel nostalgic because of his death.
"This evening, after a serious and prolonged illness, Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev passed away," the Moscow Central Clinical Hospital, where he was being treated, said in a statement according to Anadolu news.
Mikhail Gorbachev was a one-of-a kind statesman who changed the course of history.
— António Guterres (@antonioguterres) August 30, 2022
The world has lost a towering global leader, committed multilateralist, and tireless advocate for peace.
I’m deeply saddened by his passing. pic.twitter.com/giu2RHSjrQ
Gorbachev born in 1931 in a peasant family and who was in power between 1985 and 1991 and helped bring US-Soviet relations out of a deep freeze, was the last surviving Cold War leader, an AFP report stated, adding 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 since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 and launched an offensive in Ukraine earlier this year.
The fall of the Soviet Union was a catastrophe that resulted in a mountain of bodies and untold human suffering. Women and children were forced into prostitution for a Pizza Hut. Rest in fucking piss, Gorbachev. We dance on your grave.
— La Madre de Los Gatos (@zukosmama) August 30, 2022
His rule was marked by the concepts of perestroika and glasnost, meaning reform and openness and one that was supposed to lead to a democratic and free country. "I began these reforms and my guiding stars were freedom and democracy, without bloodshed. So the people would cease to be a herd led by a shepherd. They would become citizens," he said according to the UPI, the American news agency.
Gorbachev died. His legacy? Russia's GDP dropped by 40%. Real wages halved. Poverty ballooned from 2.2 million in 1987-88 to 66 million in 1993-95. Millions died under the brutal regime of privatization and shock therapy. Half a million women were trafficked into sexual slavery. pic.twitter.com/2GSvSqFlQ2
— Paweł Wargan (@pawelwargan) August 30, 2022
In 1990, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his pivotal role in ending the Cold War. But as can be seen by the comments on the social media he proved to be a controversial man and many had different opinion on what he did with tributes from all over the world.
At inflection points in history some leaders rise, others falter. Mikhail Gorbachev, who passed away today, rose to make our world safer. He was imperfect, as we all are. But he had a vision for stability over chaos and ultimately freedom over repression. We need more of that.
— Dan Rather (@DanRather) August 30, 2022
Back to the present and Russia's current deadly and bloody war on Ukraine, there is also a sense of loss.
One of Gorbachev's final messages came through a close friend and journalist Alexey Venediktov. A scathing rebuke of Putin's current policies:
— Samuel Ramani (@SamRamani2) August 30, 2022
"What Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev did is all destroyed. All Gorbachev's reforms—to zero, to ashes, to smoke."
A fitting end. Gorbachev was regarded fondly in the West, where he was affectionately referred to by the nickname Gorby and best known for defusing US-Soviet nuclear tensions in the 1980s as well as bringing Eastern Europe out from behind the Iron Curtain points out the French news agency.
It adds however, at home, Gorbachev remained a controversial figure and had a difficult relationship with Vladimir Putin, continuing that for the Russian president and many Russians, the breakup of the Soviet Union was a tragedy, bringing with it a decade of mass poverty and a weakening of Russia's stature on the global stage. 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 it concludes.
