He was the last leader of the Soviet Union, the man who helped end the Cold War, and the president who tried to turn Russia into a functioning democracy.
But when Mikhail Gorbachev's death was announced, his successor Vladimir Putin issued a curiously short and muted statement.
Via a Kremlin spokesman, the Russian leader expressed "his deepest condolences" over Gorbachev's death, and promised to send a telegram to his family.
