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Gorbachev’s Death Through Russian Eyes
Mikhail Gorbachev died after a long illness. This piece will not look at his complicated legacy. However, it will point out that for modern-day Russians, he was a polarizing figure. Why? The end of the Soviet Union and the independence of many of its East European colonies are seen through different lenses.
Let’s first point to the liberals:
“Gorbachev gave Russia everything it needs for happiness and freedom”
The ex-president of the USSR is the first normal person after a series of reptilians at the top of Soviet power. And he, who tried to save the Soviet Union and tried many ways to do this, had the wisdom to abandon the use of force — simply because it led to a dead end, journalist Oleg Kashin, who knew Gorbachev well, said in a nightly interview with the Vozdukh program after the news of the death of the former Soviet leader .
“Putin should not look down on Gorbachev. Moreover, now Putin will be 70, and Gorbachev at 70 was a deep retiree. I’m not sure that on Putin’s 90th birthday he will be spoken to kinder, more enthusiastic words than Gorbachev — on his 90th birthday,” Kashin believes.
The early years were full of hope. They were also years of economic pain. However, Russians were able to pursue dreams, and politically it was a multiparty system with real citizen input.