(Moscow) The former Soviet president, who led the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) from 1985 to 1991, died in Moscow at the age of 91, a hospital quoted by Russian news agencies said.
Posted at 4:41 p.m.
Updated at 4:55 p.m.
“Today evening (Tuesday), after a long serious illness, Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev died,” said the Central Clinical Hospital (TSKB) dependent on the Russian presidency.
Coming to power in 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev launched a wave of political and economic reforms aimed at modernizing and democratizing the Soviet Union, which was facing serious crises.
Supporter of a policy of rapprochement with the West, he received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990.
Between 1990 and 1991, he served as President of the Soviet Union, before finally having to resign on December 25, 1991, which led to the end of the USSR.