Veteran BBC journalists are weighing in on the death of Gorbachev.

BBC World Affairs Editor John Simpson:

"Really sad that Mikhail Gorbachev has died: a decent, well intentioned, principled man who tried to rescue the unrescuable.

"He once said: ‘I studied the law & saw it wasn’t observed in our country.'

"In private he was charming & surprisingly amusing. It wasn’t his fault things went so wrong."

BBC International Editor Jeremy Bowen:

"People growing up in the Cold War remember the constant background hum of MAD [Mutually Assured Destruction]. After Gorbachev got to the top in the USSR it went away, we thought in the 90s for good.

"But Western leaders couldn’t build on what he started & Putin didn’t want to. Now we’re in a big mess. RIP Gorby."

North America Correspondent Anthony Zurcher:

"The end of the Cold War looks a bit different through the lens of the past six months, but there's no doubt that the fall of the Soviet empire could - perhaps would - have been much, much worse for the world if Gorbachev had not been at the helm."

From committed communist to radical reformer, Gorbachev's legacy is profound.

Watch our obituary to the last Soviet leader.

Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger has said that the people of Europe, as well as Russians, owe the last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, a great debt of gratitude.

Kissinger spoke to BBC Newsnight after the former Soviet leader's death and lauded Gorbachev's "great service to humanity".

Image source, Getty Images

Gorbachev did not shy away from sharing his opinion of Vladimir Putin, toggling between light praise and rough critique.

He spoke to the BBC in 2013 about how his relationship with Putin had "soured" since the former KGB agent took office in 2000.

"He sometimes loses his temper," he said about the Russian leader, referring to a comment where Putin had warned that Gorbachev should watch his tongue when making public criticism of his regime.

"I get the feeling he's very tense and worried," Gorbachev said. "Not everything is going well. I think he should change his style and make changes to his regime."

Condemning newly enacted laws cracking down on government criticism, Gorbachev's message to Putin was: "For goodness sake, you should not be afraid of your own people."

He also criticised Putin's inner circle, saying it was full of "thieves and corrupt officials".

But in 2014 Gorbachev came to support the Kremlin's argument that Nato expansion in Ukraine was a threat to Russia.

Gorbachev was a critic of Western sanctions and supported the invasion and annexation of Crimea.

In 2016, Ukraine slapped him with a five-year entry ban owing to his support for Russia's incursion in the country's east.

But Gorbachev spoke out against Putin’s invasion of Ukraine this year.

A day after the 24 February attack, he issued a statement calling for "an early cessation of hostilities and immediate start of peace negotiations".

"There is nothing more precious in the world than human lives," he added.

According to a report over the summer, Gorbachev was upset about the Ukraine conflict.

Journalist Alexei Venidiktov, a Kremlin critic, told Forbes Russia that Gorbachev had told him he felt Putin's war had undone his life's work.

Watch his 2013 BBC interview here:

Gorbachev says Putin's inner circle is 'full of thieves'

Image source, Getty Images

UN Secretary General António Guterres has released a statement honouring the "one-of-a kind statesman who changed the course of history".

"He did more than any other individual to bring about the peaceful end of the Cold War," said Guterres.

"The world has lost a towering global leader, committed multilateralist, and tireless advocate for peace," the statement concludes.

Gorbachev warned in a 2019 interview that tensions between Russia and the West were putting the world in "colossal danger" because of the threat from nuclear weapons.

Speaking to the BBC's Steve Rosenberg, Gorbachev called for all countries to declare that nuclear weapons should be destroyed.

"This is to save ourselves and our planet," he said.

You may not have expected restaurant chain Pizza Hut to start trending on Twitter after the death of the former Soviet leader.

But many people are posting an old advert Gorbachev did for Pizza Hut, which shows people debating whether his reforms were good or bad for the country.

But apparently all comrades agree that pizza is good, and therefore: "Hail Gorbachev."

By then a political pariah in his homeland, Gorbachev shot the ad in 1997 to earn money for his charitable foundation.

His onetime supporter Anatoly Lukyanov quipped: “In the ad, he should take a pizza, divide it into 15 slices like he divided up our country, and then show how to put it back together again."

Watch the commercial for yourself below.

Sarah Smith
North America Editor

The relationship - friendship even - between Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan was crucial in ending the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the West.

Back in 1983, when Leonid Brezhnev was still the leader of the Soviet Union, Reagan had declared it to be an "evil empire" and rejected the idea that the US and Soviet Union were equally responsible for the Cold War.

But when Gorbachev came to power two years later he was intent on drastically changing that relationship - and he succeeded - largely because he was able to forge a partnership with the US president.

The two men met four times in a little over three years - at summit meetings in Geneva, Reykjavik, Washington and Moscow.

By the time of that Moscow summit in 1988 they had developed a real rapport. Asked by a reporter if the two men were now friends Gorbachev enthusiastically replied "Da! Da!" whilst Reagan added: "Yes."

It was on that visit that Reagan also said he no longer considered the Soviet Union to be the "evil empire", saying "that was another time, another era".

In a famous speech in front of the Berlin Wall in 1987 Ronald Reagan had directly challenged his Soviet counterpart saying: "Mr Gorbachev, tear down this wall."

Less well remembered is that the same speech went on to implore that both sides "must strive to reduce arms on both sides".

Later that year the two men signed an arms control treaty that got rid of all intermediate-range nuclear weapons.

It was at their first meeting in 1985 that they jointly declared: "A nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought."

Image source, Reuters

"President Putin expresses deep condolences over the death of Mikhail Gorbachev," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov is quoted as saying by Russia's Interfax news agency.

He says that in the morning the president "will send a telegram of condolences" to Gorbachev's family and friends.

Image source, Getty Images

The news of Gorbachev’s death dominates all main Russian media outlets.

The Komsomolskaya Pravda tabloid says he was one of the most controversial politicians in Russia.

"Some Russians say he has brought us freedom, but others would reply that he has taken away our country," it says

The English-language Moscow Times says Gorbachev was "admired for his role in ending the Cold War", but at the same time "was a divisive figure at home".

Gazeta.ru reminds us that he was the only Soviet president, in office from March 1990 to December 1991.

The news agency adds that he was also the last Secretary General of the powerful Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

The newspaper Izvestiya says reports about Gorbachev's hospitalisation appeared back in June, but the Central Clinical Hospital said at the time that he was in a stable condition.

But at the same time reports emerged on social media that he had had kidney problems.

Image source, Reuters

US President Joe Biden says he's "just found out" about Gorbachev's death.

Biden was approached by reporters while he was walking up the steps of Air Force One on his way back from giving a speech in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.

Image source, BC

Gorbachev will be buried in Moscow’s Novodevichy Cemetery next to his beloved wife Raisa, who died of leukaemia in 1999, reports Russia's Tass news agency, citing a source familiar with the family's wishes.

The Gorbachevs were married for 46 years.

Image source, Getty Images

Gorbachev assumed power in 1985 and went on to introduce several massive reforms in an effort to modernise the Soviet economy.

His policy of glasnost (meaning "openness") brought free speech to the Soviet Union - something that was unthinkable during previous administrations.

His policy of perestroika (meaning "reconstruction") ended the policy of central planning, and allowed for more regional rule throughout the Soviet Union.

Image source, Reuters

One of the most influential political figures of the 20th Century, Gorbachev presided over the dissolution of a Soviet Union that had existed for nearly 70 years.

When he set out his programme of reforms in 1985, his sole intention had been to revive his country's stagnant economy and overhaul its political processes.

His efforts became the catalyst for a series of events that brought an end to communist rule, not just within the USSR, but also across its former satellite states.

Internationally, Gorbachev wanted to end the Cold War, successfully negotiating with US President Ronald Reagan for the abolition of a whole class of weapons through the Intermediate Nuclear Forces treaty.

And he announced unilateral cuts in Soviet conventional forces, while finally ending the bloody occupation of Afghanistan.

Read more: Obituary: Mikhail Gorbachev - Soviet leader who helped end Cold War

Image source, Getty Images

Gorbachev is viewed largely as a hero in the West for the way he allowed Soviet bloc nations to peacefully break away from Russia.

Unlike previous leaders who crushed uprisings among Soviet bloc states, he held back on using force against pro-democracy protesters in Eastern Europe in 1989.

But in Russia, his legacy is very different - there he is blamed for allowing the collapse of the Soviet Union.

In 1996, five years after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Gorbachev ran for president in Russia, but received less than 1% of the vote.

Thanks for joining our live coverage of the death of former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev.

He is credited with introducing bold reforms into the Soviet Union, which helped bring an end to the Cold War without bloodshed.

Gorbachev was 91 at the time of his death. He was the last surviving former president of the Soviet Union.

The Central Clinic in Moscow announced his death on Tuesday.

“Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev died this evening after a serious and prolonged illness,” the statement said.

Stay with us as we bring you latest reaction to his death from around the world.