News about Mikhail Gorbachev

A waxwork of a famous British sportsman on display in a museum in Poland has left fans on social media baffled. The eerie wax figure on display at the Tower of Secrets Wax Museum in Gdansk, Poland has been compared to former President of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev.

Words often fail my opponents, as they tend not to have much in the way of arguments. So in recent years, as I battle for facts and logic on anti-social media, my critics have taken to calling me 'old' in the hope of damaging me. A variation on this is to call me a 'Boomer', the American expression for those such as me born in the great Baby Bulge after World War Two (I was born in October 1951). They do this as if it were a brilliant point. They seem to think that because I am old, therefore I am stupid. They are not at all embarrassed about this, as they would be about equally open prejudice on the grounds of race or sex. My first response to this strange, rather stupid rudeness was to say to myself: 'Old? Me?'

Natan Sharansky, a dissident and Israeli former minister, wrote to Navalny, 47, almost every year before he died. He was detained in the same Siberian labor camp that is notorious for torture and abuse prisoners for nine years beginning in 1977. Sharansky recalled his time in the bone-chilling Arctic jail and shared the techniques used by every protester to keep sane sane.

Natan Sharansky, 76, a prominent human rights campaigner who served in the same gulag as Navalny 40 years ago, talked about the Kremlin's new step and what it does for US relations. Ksenia Karelina, 32, of Los Angeles, was arrested in Moscow on treason charges for reportedly donating $51.80 to a Ukrainian charity. She faces 20 years in prison. Sharansky knows more about the horrors she is likely to face in the country's Orwellian jail system, and she said her detention was "no doubt" a sign of rising tensions between Russia and the US.

ANDREW PIERCE: Some of Margaret Thatcher's most popular figures on the world stage crossed the threshold of ten Downing Street to break bread with her. They included Ronald Reagan, the US President, and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, of whom the Iron Lady remarked: "I like Mr Gorbachev." We can do business together,' says the narrator.

'Suddenly,' Vladimir Nekrasov, the chairman of the Lukoil board of directors, died,'suddenly,' with Russian state media revealing that Nekrasov suffered 'acute heart disease.' Ravil Maganov, 67, died at Central Clinical Hospital, also known as the Kremlin clinic, in September last year. Maganov had been in hospital for a long-standing heart disease and collapsed from a sixth floor window, causing death on the spot. Putin swept into the hospital on the morning to pay his final respects to Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet leader who died the same week. Alexander Subbotin, 43, a billionaire who was also connected to energy giant Lukoil, was discovered dead in May after 'taking shamans'. Nekrasov, who was once lauded by former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev (right), had taken over as chairman from Maganov.

Margaret Thatcher wore a man's suit and smoked a cigar, Ronald Reagan was a sinner who came close to causing nuclear war, but Queen Elizabeth II slugged from a half-empty gin bottle. 'Spitting Image,' a British comedy show that attracted 15 million viewers per week during its 1980s fame, attracted 15 million viewers per week. Puppets of some of the company's most well-known targets, including Thatcher, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and Princess Diana, were on display at an exhibition in Cambridge nearly 40 years after it first appeared. Pictured: Producer John Lloyd with a puppet of Margaret Thatcher (main), a puppet of Gary Lineker (top right), a puppet of Mikhail Gorbachev (bottom right), a letter of complaint from a viewer (inset)

Dmitry Muratov is a Russian journalist and Editor-in-Chief of the Russian news service 'Novaya Gazeta,' which is based in Moscow. He was given the Nobel Prize for Peace in 2021 alongside Philippine journalist Maria Ressa for his 'efforts to preserve freedom of expression.' On tonight, Channel 4 will broadcast 'The Price of Truth,' a documentary about Muratov's life.

HITCHENS: It was described as the triumph of Peter Tatchell, the renowned homosexual rights campaigner, in a by-election in Bermondsey in February 1983. However, no such thing happened, of course. Mr Tatchell, the perpetrator of several controversial smear campaigns, was marginalized by his own Labour Party and brutally defeated by a Liberal, Simon Hughes, and he never recovered to national politics. He has since risen much ahead of those who beat him down in 1983. The folded and yellowing front page I had in my hand was what is described as a'set and hold' in newspaper industry, one of many stories I had planned ahead to cover all eventualities, but it came too late for fine writing.

Kristina Baikova, 28, a Loko-Bank executive, is the newest mysterious casualty among Russia's top executives. Ms Baikova reportedly fell from her 11th floor apartment on Khodynsky Boulevard in the early hours of last Friday. She died on the spot almost immediately. At the time of the shooting, the bank executive was with a 34-year-old friend, who is believed to have been named Andrei, who was invited to her house for alcoholic beverages. An inquiry into her death has been started.

I say thank you to God if what seemed to be civil war in Russia had not been averted. I hate to imagine what might have happened to the overwhelmingly oppressed, systematically robbed, stoical, brave Russians, if civil war had re-enacted in the region. I was in Moscow the last time its government was deposed in a coup d'etat, and I do not recommend such activities to people of a tumultuous disposition. Human bones are found on almost every part of Russia, and they have the marks of murder. The country is never far from total disaster.

Viatcheslav Rovneiko, 59, was found unconscious late at night at his home in an exclusive gated village. According to a Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper article, doctors could not save him. Although the circumstances surrounding his death were unclear, an investigation is currently underway. According to the report, there were "no signs of a violent death on his body." Rovneiko's death means he will join a long line of influential Kremlin figures to die in recent years under unethical circumstances. People were seen strolling through Moscow's Red Square on Tuesday, as shown by a photographer (file photo).

Dmitry Zelenov, a real estate tycoon (main), died on December 9 in Antibes, France (inset). According to Russian news outlet Baza and local French outlet Var Matin, the oligarch, 50, was out to dinner with some relatives when he became sick and collapsed down a flight of stairs, suffering serious head injuries. He was rushed to the hospital, but doctors were unable to save him and his death was announced by the public prosecutor in Grasse the next day. Zelenov was a co-founder of Don-Stroy, one of Moscow's most prominent real estate investment and development empires prior to the 2008 financial crisis.

PETER HITCHENS: This could be a good TV thriller, and with the world economy in turmoil and the entire planet in a chaotic, turbulent mess, French-speaking Quebec finally steps away from Canada in a historic, overwhelming referendum. Canada grins and bears it. However, Quebec's elected government is overthrown by ultra-nationalist militants following violent riots in Montreal in which Chinese diplomats and politicians openly support the demonstrators. One minister from Peking is even caught on his cellphone discussing the make-up of a new Quebec government with the Chinese ambassador to Montreal. The current Quebec regime gives the country's remaining English-speakers a rough time, knowing that this would enrage English-speaking Canadians and Americans alike. It also creates a huge trade agreement with Peking and follows this by the establishment of a military alliance.

Nikolay Petrunin (left), 47, dubbed the 'Gas wonderkid' by Covid after being in a coma for a month, although this has not been confirmed. In recent months, there have been a string of enigmatic deaths involving Gazprom and energy officials, with company chiefs falling out of windows, drowning in muddy canals, and performing horrific murder suicides. However, critics are concerned that Putin's shady FSB is behind the assassinations, with the Russian tyrant previously accused of ordering the assassination of dissidents.

Pavel Pchelnikov was discovered dead on his balcony in Moscow on Wednesday morning in what investigators have described as a suicide, despite further details. The 52-year-old Russian Railways PR executive was on holiday with his family and looked happy, prompting concerns about whether he would murder himself. Ravil Maganov, Ivan Pechorin, Leonid Shulman, Alexander Tyulakov, Alexander Subbotin, and Yuri Voronov are among the tenth Russian executive to die after Putin sacked Ukraine in late February in circumstances that have been deemed suspicious, although all of them have been found to be suicides (clockwise from top right, victims: Ravil Maganov, Ivan Pechorin, Athena (clockwise from top right,

PETER HITCHENS: What is Britain's interest in Ukraine?Why are we shovelling weapons and equipment into that country, despite the fact that our national budget is stretched to bursting and our own armed forces have for many years been starved of money, men and kit? This is certain that if we were a democratic open society, this inquiry would be asked all the time. However, it is not. So I'm asking it now, as the Ukraine war threatens to engulf Europe and has already brought us closer to real nuclear conflict than we have ever been.

Anatoly Gerashchenko (main), the former head of Moscow's Aviation Institute (MAI), reportedly fell and tumbled down a flight of stairs at the institute's headquarters in the Russian capital this morning. MAI is one of Russia's top academic research universities responsible for the development of aerospace technology. Ivan Pechorin (top right) died off the coast of Russia's vast Arctic riches less than two weeks after Vladimir Putin's point man for establishing Russia's vast Arctic reserves, Ivan Pechorin (top right) 'fell overboard' when sailing off the country's Pacific coast. The pair are the latest in a long line of senior officials (picutred) from Russia's energy, technology and finance sectors linked to the Kremlin to die in suspicious circumstances in recent months

Alla Pugacheva, one of Russia's most popular musicians, has said that Vladimir Putin is pointlessly sending young men to die in Ukraine. The statement on Instagram is a major departure from a prominent figure in Russian authorities, who have stifled opposition in recent years. Pugacehva has been dubbed the "Russian Dolly Parton" by British comedian and journalist Viv Groskop, underlining her celebrity and national fame.

ROLAND WHITE: The new series began with a sketch of Star Wars, in which Matt Lucas played 'Luke Piewalker', and Noel Fielding was 'Princes Layer Cake.' These were not dad jokes; they were great-grandad farewells. Then there's the fact that Paul Hollywood is the show's tough guy, the Phil Mitchell of patisserie. As he prowled around the tent, this hard-man picture was shared more than once. Paul is, in fact, as soft as a choux bun. He doesn't punch his punches as a judge, but he does have encouraging words of encouragement. Prue Leith can be just as critical, in fact, but it's impossible to be tough when wearing stunning pink spectacles. So what about the really important people, the bakers?

Ivan Pechorin, 39 (main), was the managing director of Putin's Far East and Arctic Development Corporation. According to Russian daily Komsomolskaya Pravda, he fell off the side of a boat off the coast of Cape Ignatiev. He is the newest in a long line of senior officials connected to Russia's oil industry and the Kremlin to die in recent months under unethical circumstances. Every death has been reported by authorities as an accident or suicide, but many believe that officials who are seen as a threat to Putin's esteem are simply being barred from the playing field. Ravil Maganov, 67, died from the sixth floor window of a Moscow hospital on September 1, top right). Yuri Voronov, 61, a Gazprom-linked executive, was discovered dead in his swimming pool in July amid suspicion of foul play. Two more deaths of Gazprom-linked executives (bottom center right and bottom right) were earlier announced in luxurious homes near St Petersburg. Alexander Subbotin, 43, who was also connected to Kremlin-friendly energy company Lukoil, where he was a top boss, was discovered dead in May (bottom center left).

EPHRAIM HARDCASTLE: Are Boris and Carrie soon to join David Cameron and Jeremy Clarkson in the Chipping Norton set? Lord Bamford, a JCB billionaire and Tory donor, is assisting the couple in finding a new home in Oxfordshire. He and Lady Bamford have nourished the Johnsons in Downing Street with food from their Daylesford store, apart from staging their wedding reception at his Cotswolds estate. According to locals, the former Prime Minister has a mansion near Chipping Norton on his agenda, following Bamford's lead. Perhaps his lordship can provide a JCB for Boris to get on with his post-Downing Street Cincinnatus-like ploughing!

In an interview with Muir, the foreign leader, after a trip to Bucha's mass grave, asks Zelensky what 'justice' looks like for those who are responsible for the travesty. Before he 'go(es) to hell, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told ABC's David Muir that he'should'be fair' and'independence' trial for the crimes he has committed against Ukraine. "I think those responsible should not go to hell, no, they should have fair trials,' the nation's leader said.

In recent months, the 69-year-old chief has been at the center of numerous health scandals, and has often appeared twitching and unsteady while in public. In the east of Russia, he rode through nine time zones toward Kamchatka, a glaciers-and-volcanoes peninsula in the Pacific. As he told the kids, he repeatedly tapbed both of his feet on the ground and clung to his armrest for help: 'You have to live for something to die for.' It comes just days after he appeared in a similar manner, twitching his legs manically and firmly grasping an armrest.