Vladimir Putin visited the coffin of former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev after confirming he will not be present at his funeral.
The Russian president visited the Central Clinical Hospital on the morning of September 1 to pay his respects to the man he had a difficult relationship with.
The Russian leader bowed to the coffin and placed flowers on it, while gaming at a picture of the former leader beside it.
He then crossed himself and touched the coffin, but will still not make his funeral in an apparent snub. Gorbachev will also not receive a state funeral.
The Kremlin said there would be "elements of a state funeral, in the sense that there will naturally be a guard of honour and a farewell."
They added: "The state will be assisting in the organisation.”
Putin once called the collapse of the Soviet Union, which occurred under Gorbachev, the "greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century."
After his death, however, Putin said had he a "huge impact on the course of world history" in a telegram of condolence sent on Wednesday, August 31.
He added that Gorbachev "deeply understood that reforms were necessary".
Opinion within Russia is split on their former leader, with some praising the reforms and relative openness he brought, while some remain furious and blame him for the demise of one of the world's most powerful ever nations.
Putin's spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said: "He sincerely wanted to believe that the Cold War would end, and that it would usher in a period of eternal romance between a new Soviet Union and the world, the West.
"This romanticism turned out to be wrong. There was no romantic period, a 100-year honeymoon did not materialise, and the bloodthirsty nature of our opponents showed itself. It’s good that we realised this in time and understood it."
Gorbachev opened up Russia to a more liberal approach that included dissent among the press and the people, and led to states breaking away from the union and its eventual collapse in 1991.
In turn, Gorbachev had also been critical of Putin's repressive approach to rule, limiting his citizens by cracking down on free speech.
The Central Clinical Hospital is also the same site that Russian oil chief Ravil Maganov of the Lukoil oil firm died after falling from a window.
The oligarch had been critical of Putin's internationally condemned invasion into Ukraine and is the latest high-profile war critic to mysteriously perish.
