The Latest Breaking News from Mikhail Gorbachev

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.

Soviet leader who helped end Cold War praised after death at age 91

Following are some notable quotes from Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Soviet leader, who died on Tuesday at the age of 91.

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Former Soviet leader’s death was announced on Tuesday

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.

In power less than seven years, Gorbachev unleashed breathtaking changes that overtook him and resulted in the collapse of the authoritarian Soviet state, the freeing of Eastern European nations from Russian domination and the end of decades of East-West nuclear confrontation.

His death was announced by multiple Russian news agencies on Tuesday evening, citing officials at the Central Clinical Hospital in Moscow.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday expressed his deepest condolences on the death of former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Interfax news agency.

‘An epoch in world history came to an end directly as a result of his actions’

Here is a timeline of some key events over the nearly seven years that Mikhail Gorbachev, who died on Tuesday at age 91, held power in the Soviet Union.