MOSCOW (AP) 鈥� Russian President Vladimir Putin privately laid flowers at Mikhail Gorbachev鈥檚 coffin on Thursday, snubbing the weekend鈥檚 public funeral in a move reflecting the Kremlin鈥檚 uneasiness about Gorbachev鈥檚 legacy.
Just before departing for a working trip to Russia鈥檚 western-most Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad, Putin visited a Moscow hospital where Gorbachev鈥檚 body was being kept before Saturday鈥檚 funeral.
Russian state television showed Putin walking to Gorbachev鈥檚 open casket and putting a bouquet of red roses next to it. He stood in silence for a few moments, bowed his head, touched the coffin, crossed himself and walked away.
鈥淩egrettably, the president鈥檚 working schedule wouldn鈥檛 allow him to do that on Saturday, so he decided to do that today,鈥� Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in a conference call with reporters.
Gorbachev, who died Tuesday at the age of 91, will be buried at Moscow鈥檚 Novodevichy cemetery next to his wife, Raisa, following a farewell ceremony at the Pillar Hall of the House of the Unions, an iconic mansion near the Kremlin that has served as the venue for state funerals since Soviet times.
The Kremlin stopped short of declaring a state funeral, with Peskov saying the ceremony will have 鈥渆lements鈥� of one, such as honorary guards, and the government will help organize it. He wouldn鈥檛 elaborate, however, on how the ceremony will differ from a full-fledged state funeral.
If the Kremlin had declared a state funeral for Gorbachev, it would have made it awkward for Putin to snub the official ceremony. A state funeral would also oblige the Kremlin to send invitations to foreign leaders, something that Moscow would be reluctant to do amid soaring tensions with the West after sending troops into Ukraine.
Putin鈥檚 decision to pay a private visit to the hospital while staying away from Saturday鈥檚 public ceremony, combined with uncertainty surrounding the funeral鈥檚 status, reflect the Kremlin鈥檚 dichotomy about the legacy of Gorbachev. The late leader has been lauded in the West for reforms that put an end to the Cold War but reviled by many at home for actions that led to the 1991 Soviet collapse and plunged millions into poverty.
While avoiding explicit criticism of Gorbachev, Putin in the past has repeatedly blamed him for failing to secure written commitments from the West that would rule out NATO鈥檚 expansion eastward 鈥� an issue that became a major irritant in Russia-West ties for decades and fomented tensions that exploded when the Russian leader sent troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24.
In Wednesday鈥檚 letter of condolence released by the Kremlin, Putin praised Gorbachev as a man who left 鈥渁n enormous impact on the course of world history.鈥�
鈥淗e led the country during difficult and dramatic changes, amid large-scale foreign policy, economic and society challenges,鈥� Putin said. 鈥淗e deeply realized that reforms were necessary and tried to offer his solutions for the acute problems.鈥�
Sergei Markov, a pro-Kremlin political analyst, observed that Putin鈥檚 decision to privately pay tribute to Gorbachev reflected both 鈥渟ecurity problems and utter unpopularity of Mikhail Gorbachev鈥檚 policies.鈥� At the same time, Putin wanted to show his respect to the former head of state, Markov said.
The Kremlin鈥檚 ambivalent view of Gorbachev was mirrored by state television broadcasts, which paid tribute to Gorbachev as a historic figure but described his reforms as poorly planned and held him responsible for failing to safeguard the country鈥檚 interests in dialogue with the West.
The criticism echoed earlier assessments by Putin, who has famously lamented the collapse of the Soviet Union as the 鈥済reatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century.鈥�
On Wednesday, Peskov said that Gorbachev was an 鈥渆xtraordinary鈥� statesman who will 鈥渁lways remain in the country鈥檚 history,鈥� but noted what he described as his idealistic view of the West.
鈥淕orbachev gave an impulse for ending the Cold War and he sincerely wanted to believe that it would be over and an eternal romance would start between the renewed Soviet Union and the collective West,鈥� Peskov said. 鈥淭his romanticism failed to materialize. The bloodthirsty nature of our opponents has come to light, and it鈥檚 good that we realized that in time.鈥�
The Russian public has remained deeply divided over Gorbachev鈥檚 legacy, with some praising him for ending the Cold War and offering political freedoms after seven decades of totalitarian rule and others accusing him of betrayal.
Mikhail Khodorkovsky, once Russia鈥檚 richest man who spent a decade in prison on fraud and tax evasion charges widely seen as a political vendetta for challenging Putin鈥檚 power, hailed Gorbachev for dismantling the repressive Communist system.
鈥淚n Russia, Gorbachev will be remembered, on the one hand as the man who was able to give the country freedom; on the other hand, he will be remembered as the man who was not able to help Russia make use of this freedom,鈥� Khodorkovsky, who lives in London, said in an interview with The Associated Press.
Khodorkovsky described the Russian military action in Ukraine as a redux of the Russian imperial past that Gorbachev sought to demolish.
鈥淲hat is happening now, the war between Russia and Ukraine, is an extension of the process of imperial collapse,鈥� Khodorkovsky said.
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AP journalist Susie Blann in London contributed to this report.
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More AP stories on Mikhail Gorbachev here:
Vladimir Isachenkov, The Associated Press
