‘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. 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. Yet thousands of Russians have come to pay their respects, each person a reminder that Mikhail Gorbachev still remains a hero to some.
