Farewell and funeral of Mikhail Gorbachev: online broadcast

The country sees off the author of “Perestroika”

In the Moscow Column Hall of the House of the Unions, a farewell ceremony is being held for the first and only president of the USSR, Mikhail Gorbachev, who died on August 30 at the age of 92. The Kremlin previously stated that the mourning events would not be of a state nature, but would be held “with elements of a state funeral” – the organization was handled by the Protocol Service of the President of the Russian Federation. The president himself will not be at the funeral, as reported, due to a busy work schedule. Mikhail Sergeevich will be buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery, next to the grave of his wife Raisa.

09:47 One of the young people who came told the MK correspondent that he came to the ceremony, rather, out of interest: “To be honest, curiosity led me more. I am a historian. I heard a lot about the funeral of general secretaries … I decided that this is such a unique historical moment”.

09:41 Part of Bolshaya Dmitrovka is blocked, cars are not allowed here, you can only go to the House of the Unions on foot.

09:38 The exits from the metro station “Teatralnaya” are partially blocked, the entrance to the ceremony is organized from the side of Kopyevskiy Lane.

09:37 The US State Department previously announced that Ambassador John Sullivan would attend the ceremony. From Germany, the presence of an embassy representative is expected, France was also going to send someone.

09:32 However, there is no excitement. Half an hour before the official start of the memorial service, several dozen people gathered. Some have red carnations in their hands.

09:31 People began to gather at the House of the Unions long before the start. Already at 9 in the morning a small queue lined up on the street. People of all ages came, many young people.

09:30 Metal fences were put up near the House of the Unions in the morning. Many employees of the National Guard and the police. There are paddy wagons not far from the Teatralnaya metro station. Near the entrance to the State Duma – two buses with the inscription “Guard of Honor”.

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The ceremony is open to everyone. Many Western politicians have reported their impossibility to come to Moscow now, but condolences over the death of the man who changed the world, as Gorbachev was often called, have been sent by former and current leaders of all the leading countries of the world. Representatives of several Western states are expected to attend today’s mourning events – presumably at the level of ambassadors.

Vladimir Putin reportedly said goodbye to Gorbachev on Thursday at the Central Clinical Hospital. On the same day, it became known that the farewell ceremony was reduced by two hours, it will last until 12:00, and not until 14:00, as originally announced.