Even in death, Mikhail Gorbachev symbolised the difference between Russia as seen by Russians and as seen by the rest of the world. Hailed as a hero and a visionary abroad, he was always regarded more circumspectly at home.
His role in ending the Cold War guaranteed him a saintly status in the West, because he took the one decision that mattered: not to resist by force the collapse of the Soviet Union. For Russians, though, he will always be associated with the loss of prestige of what was in effect an empire. Even if they reluctantly accepted that the communist experiment had failed, they resented the messenger.
The basis of Vladimir Putin’s support, on the other hand, has been his unapologetic Russian nationalism. No wonder the Russian president was “too busy” to attend Gorbachev’s funeral on Saturday.
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