‘His was the slow way to freedom’: a farewell to Gorbachev

The Pillar Hall in the House of the Unions is a grand old ballroom where Soviet leaders are put on display when they die.

- Andrew Roth

Nearly a century ago, the body of Vladimir Lenin lay in state for three days before his funeral. Stalin and Brezhnev followed. Now Mikhail Gorbachev is here, pale in a spotlit coffin: the last Soviet leader finally being laid to rest.

Vladimir Putin has not been here, a snub that the Kremlin has said was a result of his busy work schedule. Yet thousands of Russians have come to pay their respects, each person a reminder that Mikhail Gorbachev still remains a hero to some.

“He did a lot, but people now in our country hate him,” said Vladimir Gubarev, a retired journalist who lined up last Friday, bearing carnations. “People want to be happy fast. Immediately. The way of Gorbachev was the slow way to freedom, to real freedom. And he didn’t have enough time.”

For many, coming to the hall was both an act of appreciation and one of defiance to honour a leader who brought new freedoms and hastened the collapse of his own country. “He was a great man, so immediately after his death people say good words about him,” said Gubarev. “But only after he is gone. Because while he was alive, he was dangerous. He was the enemy.”