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The death of Mikhail Gorbachev prompted gushing tributes from across the West on Wednesday but much less of a reaction in Russia. FRANCE 24 examines why Gorbachev is lionised in the West for his role in ending the Cold War, but scorned in Russia for overseeing the collapse of the…

Mikhail Gorbachev was a contradictory figure; his legacy, complex. Hailed in the West as a democrat and liberator of his people – which he genuinely was – he increasingly became despised by many within Russia for destroying the Soviet Union and dismantling a great power.

Mikhail Gorbachev, who as the last leader of the Soviet Union waged a losing battle to salvage a crumbling empire but produced extraordinary reforms that led to the end of the Cold War, has died at 91

The last leader of the Soviet Union, who has died at 91, enjoyed an unusual second act as a spokesperson for Western brands. Kevin E G Perry looks back at how Mikhail Gorbachev came to embody the triumph of capitalism

Mikhail Gorbachev, who has died aged 91, was revered in West but criticised by many Russians for overseeing end of USSR.

The last leader of the Soviet Union, he was ousted as his reforms pointing to the end of the USSR spiralled out of control

A look back at the Soviet leader who changed history

Euphoria. There is no better word to describe my feelings, the feelings of many in the Soviet intelligentsia, when Mikhail Gorbachev came to power and started the reforms that the world came to know as perestroika and glasnost. It was the euphoria of liberation, freedom, hope.

For all the adulation he inspired in the West, Mikhail Gorbachev was a tragic figure who failed in the historic mission he had defined for his own country.