The death of ex-soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev triggered an outpouring of tributes and emotions from world leaders on Wednesday.
However, reverse was the case in Russia as many blamed him for the loss of the country’s global superpower status.
Gorbachev, who was responsible for the dissolution of the Soviet Union died on Tuesday at the age of 91.
According to Russian news, he died in a central Moscow hospital “after a serious and long illness”.
Gorbachev, while in power between 1985 and 1991, helped bring US-Soviet relations out of a deep freeze and was the last surviving Cold War leader.
While he ruled as the leader of the Soviet Union, his reforms allowed Eastern Europe to free itself from Soviet rule.
The changes he set in motion saw him win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990 but also sufferered wide spread criticisms and hate by many Russians after the country entered into economic imbalance which saw Russia’s international influence decline.
According to President Vladimir Putin, the Soviet collapse is the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century, Putin has spent much of his more than 20-year rule as Russia leader to reverse parts of Gorbachev’s legacy.
With the launch of a military offensive earlier this year in Ukraine, Putin has sought to reassert Russian influence in one of the countries that gained its independence when the Soviet Union fell.
