Russians say farewell to the Soviet Union’s last leader Mikhail Gorbachev

A public farewell ceremony for Gorbachev, who died this week at the age of 91, began at 10:00 a.m. local time (3:00 a.m. ET) and will last until the early afternoon in Moscow’s Hall of Columns, a storied venue that has hosted the state funerals of former Soviet leaders like Joseph Stalin and Vladimir Lenin. Gorbachev will be buried next to his wife Raisa later in the day at Novodevichy Cemetery. The Kremlin has stopped short of announcing a state funeral for Gorbachev, with its spokesperson saying it would have “elements of a state funeral,” including a guard of honor and the state assisting in the organization. No explanation has been provided on how the event would differ from previous state funerals. While lionized in the West for ending the Cold War, Gorbachev is seen as a pariah at home for the chaos caused by his economic reforms — creating the circumstances that made a strongman like Putin attractive to many Russians. Putin blamed Gorbachev for the demise of the USSR, which he called the “greatest geopolitical catastrophe” of the 20th century, and has set about restoring Russia’s wounded prestige. Gorbachev grew more critical of Putin and his increasingly restrictive regime in recent years, traveling the world promoting free speech and democracy as part of his foundation. While Gorbachev himself did not comment on Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine, his foundation called for peace negotiations, saying “there is nothing more precious in the world than human lives.”The last Russian leader not to be granted a state funeral was Nikita Khrushchev, who was deposed for attempting to roll back Stalinist reforms. He died after living in seclusion in 1971 and his funeral was held in semi-secrecy.Putin will be missing Saturday’s funeral due to his work schedule, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. The Russian leader did, however, pay his respects to Gorbachev on Thursday. Footage showed Putin laying a bouquet of roses by the open coffin in Central Clinical Hospital, Putin then bowed and made the sign of the cross. Saturday’s funeral is a marked contrast to the death of Russia’s first democratically elected president Boris Yeltsin — who had handpicked Putin to be his successor. The Kremlin announced a day of national mourning following Yeltsin’s death in 2007, and his funeral was attended by a host of world leaders, including Putin, former US Presidents Bill Clinton and George Bush, Britain’s former Prime Minister John Major and Prince Andrew, as well as former Polish president Lech Walesa.Gorbachev’s funeral is unlikely to receive a similar roster of famous guests, as Moscow has banned hundreds of foreign officials from entering Russia in retaliation for Western sanctions.