Mikhail Gorbachev is dead.
The last leader of the Soviet Union who ascended to power in 1985 and is acclaimed for ending the Cold War died in Moscow yesterday.
According to the Central Clinical Hospital in Moscow, Gorbachev had been suffering from a serious and long illness.
Gorbachev led the Soviet Union for six years that span from 1985 until 1991when he resigned, marking the dissolution of the Soviet bloc.
“Mikhail Gorbachev was a one-of-a kind statesman,” UN Secretary General António Guterres wrote in a Twitter tribute. “The world has lost a towering global leader, committed multi-lateralist, and tireless advocate for peace.”
The cause of death has not been announced.