Mikhail Gorbachev dies aged 91

Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Soviet Union leader, has died aged 91, according to Russian news agency reports on Tuesday, August 30.

Gorbachev was widely credited with ending the Cold War, and championed democracy-oriented reform and arms control as Soviet leader in the 1980s.

Russian critics have placed blame on Gorbachev for the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union.

Partnerships formed by Gorbachev with the US and the West led to the end of the Iron Curtain in Europe and the reunification of Germany.

Russia’s Central Clinical Hospital said Gorbachev died “after a serious and protracted disease.”

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