Kremlin has ‘no plans’ to hold a state funeral for Gorbachev

A ceremony for the last leader of the Soviet Union will be open to the public, but it’s unclear if Vladimir Putin will attend.

A portrait of Mikhail Gorbachev displayed in his office at the headquarters of his foundation in Moscow on Thursday. Picture: AFP

The last leader of the Soviet Union will not be honoured with a state funeral, according to Russian media reports.

Mikhail Gorbachev died in a hospital in Moscow on Tuesday at the age of 91 after a long illness. President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said that the authorities in Moscow would make a decision later on the question of a state funeral, but the Interfax news agency cited sources suggesting that there were “no plans” for one.

“It is still difficult to say how the procedure will take place, it depends on the wishes of relatives and friends,” Mr Peskov said. He added that it was uncertain if Mr Putin would attend the funeral. A ceremony will be held in the Hall of Columns in Moscow, where Joseph Stalin lay in state. It will be open to the public.

Former president of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, during the May 1 parade on Red Square in Moscow in 1991. Picture: Getty Images

In a telegram of condolences released by the Kremlin, the Russian leader praised Mr Gorbachev as a man who left an enormous impact on world history.

Mr Gorbachev’s relationship with Mr Putin, 69, was frosty. The former Soviet leader once accused him of “tightening the screws” on civil society. In one of his last articles, Mr Gorbachev said he regretted that Russia had not yet established a western-style democratic system.

Although he was unpopular in Russia, Mr Gorbachev was hailed in the West for his role in bringing about the end of the Cold War and was awarded the Nobel Peace prize in 1990. However, tensions over the invasion of Ukraine mean that western leaders are unlikely to be allowed to attend his funeral ceremony, in whatever form it takes. Boris Johnson and President Joe Biden have both been barred from Russia.

Former US president Ronald Reagan and Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev sign the arms control agreement banning the use of intermediate-range nuclear missiles in 1987.

Olga Skabeyeva, a presenter on Russia 1, one of the country’s main television channels, launched a thinly veiled attack on Mr Gorbachev. “All of our enemies are calling Gorbachev a real reformer,” she said. “But our country’s assessments of his legacy are fundamentally, radically different.”

Leonid Slutsky, head of the foreign affairs committee of the State Duma, hailed Mr Gorbachev as the most remarkable politician of his time but said his reforms played into the hands of those who were trying to wipe the USSR off the world map.

Oleg Morozov, a member of the ruling United Russia party, said he should have repented for the errors that hurt Russia’s interests.

Mr Gorbachev will be buried on Saturday at the Novodevichy graveyard in Moscow, next to his wife, Raisa, who died in 1999. It is also the resting place of Boris Yeltsin and Nikita Khrushchev.

Mikhail Gorbachev will be buried next to his wife Raisa Gorbacheva at the Novodevichy cemetery in Moscow. Picture: AFP

Mr Gorbachev’s family said that a farewell ceremony would take place in Moscow at the House of Unions, an 18th-century building near Red Square.

In a message passed to his lawyers, Alexei Navalny, the imprisoned Russian opposition leader, said: “He gave up power peacefully and voluntarily, respecting the will of the voters. This alone is a great feat by the standards of the former Soviet Union.”

President Volodymyr Zelensky has yet to comment, but many of his compatriots were ready to vent their feelings about a Russian reformer who stayed silent about the invasion of Ukraine.

“His destiny is the same destiny as many Russian reformers who want reforms, but only up to a certain point: when people start questioning Russian imperialism and decolonisation,” said Volodymyr Yermolenko, a philosopher.

The Times