I don’t do it as a coat of arms… Contrast with the head of state at the death of Yeltsin in 2007
Seeing off last year’s Nobel Peace Prize-winning journalist Dmitry Muratov on the last road
The recently appointed ambassador to Russia, Jang Ho-jin, also attended.
The funeral of the late former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev was held in Moscow, Russia on the 3rd (local time).
According to the AP, AFP and Archyde.com, the funeral of former President Gorbachev, which was held at the ‘House of Union’ Pillar Hall in downtown Moscow from 10 a.m. on the same day, drew thousands of mourners to give his final farewell to the deceased.
The mourners expressed their condolences by placing roses and bouquets of flowers in front of the coffin where the body of former President Gorbachev was placed.
Irina, the only daughter of the deceased, and her two granddaughters stayed by her side.
Foreign media reported that even before the funeral began, the number of mourners continued to form a long line outside the building.
The deceased passed away on the 30th of last month at the age of 91 after a long battle with diabetes and heart disease.
There were still many people waiting for their turn outside, but the funeral ended in about three and a half hours.
The body of former President Gorbachev was then taken to the Novodevich Cemetery and buried next to his wife, Laisa, who died of leukemia in 1999.
Gorbachev’s final journey was accompanied by journalist Dmitry Muratov, who last year won the Nobel Peace Prize.
He led the procession to the cemetery with a portrait of the deceased.
Muratov had a close relationship with the deceased during his lifetime.
In 1993, with the support of Gorbachev, the newspaper Novaya Gazeta was founded.
Novaya Gazeta was discontinued in March of this year under the threat of punishment by Russian authorities after exposing corruption in the Vladimir Putin government and criticizing the war in Ukraine.
Muratov auctioned off his Nobel Prize medal in June this year to help Ukraine, which had been damaged by the Russian invasion.
The medal was sold for $103.5 million (about 133.6 billion won).
In 1990, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his contribution to the end of the Cold War.
Former President Gorbachev is regarded as a key figure in removing the Iron Curtain and ending the Cold War peacefully.
However, in Korea, he suffered criticism as a traitor who brought the downfall of the former Soviet Union.
Russian President Putin, who came to power in May 2000, called the collapse of the Soviet Union under Gorbachev “the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century.”
The funeral of former President Gorbachev was not held as a national funeral, but the Russian government supported the funeral procession at the national level, such as providing security and honor guards.
The BBC said the Russian government did not hold Gorbachev’s funeral as a director, meaning that “the current Russian leadership has little interest in honoring Gorbachev’s legacy”.
The last non-bureaucratic funeral among Russian leaders was in 1971 for Nikita Khrushchev, CNN reported.
Putin did not attend the funeral.
Kremlin spokeswoman Dmitry Peskov said that “President Putin was unable to attend due to his work schedule.”
Prior to that, Putin personally visited the Moscow Central Clinical Hospital where the mortuary of former President Gorbachev is located on the 1st and paid a wreath.
Hungarian Prime Minister Orban Viktor, who has shown pro-Russian behavior among foreign leaders, was the only foreign leader to attend the funeral.
The New York Times (NYT) evaluated this as a scene that clearly showed Russia’s isolation from the West due to the invasion of Ukraine.
On the Russian side, former President Dmitry Medvedev and former Prime Minister Sergei Stepasin were in attendance.
The new ambassador to Russia, Jang Ho-jin, also attended Gorbachev’s funeral.
Ambassador Jang received the trust of President Yoon Seok-yeol on the 12th of last month and officially took office on the 31st.
The Associated Press pointed out that the modest funeral of former President Gorbachev contrasts with Putin’s funeral and declaration of national mourning at the time of the death of former President Boris Yeltsin in 2007.
But one Russian citizen said he came to pay tribute to former President Gorbachev for bringing democracy to Russia and opening Russia to the world.
“I think he did more good than bad,” said another citizen. “The older generation here remembered him and came to say goodbye.”
Among the mourners, there were many young Russians who had no memory of the Soviet days, Archyde.com reported.
Historian Andrei Zubov said, “Their accompaniment is an unspoken protest against the current political system.”
The German capital, Berlin, was caught early on the same day, AFP news agency reported.
At the time of the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, Gorbachev virtually acquiesced to West Germany’s absorption and reunification without providing military support to the East German communist regime.
/yunhap news