Mikhial Gorbachev, the former Russian leader who was instrumental in ending the Cold War, creating a more free and democratic society in his country and bringing an end to the Soviet Union, died Tuesday at 91, according to several Russian news agencies.
Russian news outlets reported he died at Central Clinical Hospital in Moscow but did not offer any other details.
Gorbachev’s death comes months after Russia launched its war on Ukraine, which alienated Moscow from much of the world and brought about crippling western sanctions that have rapidly transformed Russia’s economy.
Gorbachev assumed the head of the Union of Soviet Republics in 1985, working swiftly to modernize a lagging bureaucracy and seeking to restore the country’s international significance.
Gorbachev also sought more peaceful relations with the western world, including with the U.S. In 1987, he and former President Reagan agreed to denuclearize intermediate range nuclear missiles in a historic pact.
He also oversaw the Chernobyl crisis in 1985. When the nuclear plant meltdown threatened to spread across Ukraine and the Soviet Union, he worked with scientific experts and advisors to limit the radiation, although the situation was still a historic catastrophe. The Chernobyl Plant and the surrounding area was locked down for decades because of contamination, but is no longer considered a threat.
Gorbachev also supported Eastern European countries who wished to secede from the Soviet Union, promising them he would not intervene.
After the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, Gorbachev quickly worked to bring an end to the communist Soviet Union, ending 45 years of geopolitical tensions with the U.S. and the western world, and leading many other countries to sever ties with communism across the world.
By the time he resigned on Dec. 25, 1991, the Soviet Union had collapsed.
“I was doing my best in bringing together morality and responsibility to people. It’s a matter of principle for me. It was high time to put an end to the rulers’ wild cravings and to their highhandedness,” Gorbachev told his foundation in published remarks.
“There were a few things I have not succeeded in, but I don’t think I was wrong in my approach,” he continued. “Unless this is done, one can hardly expect that policy can pay its unique part, especially now that we have entered the new century and are facing dramatic challenges.”