Last respects to Soviet leader Gorbachev, Putin will not attend funeral due to work schedule

Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said "Putin's work schedule will not allow him to take part in the farewell ceremony for Gorbachev on September 3," adding that the Russian President visited the Central Clinical Hospital today to pay his respects to Gorbachev, laying flowers by the coffin.

It is unclear whether Gorbachev, who is credited for helping to end the Cold War, will be honored with a state funeral.

Gorbachev will be buried next to his wife Raisa, who died in 1999, Russian state media RIA Novosti said earlier this week, citing the Gorbachev foundation. The historical #cemetery is the final resting place of many notable Russians including the writers Mikhail Bulgakov, Anton Chekhov and Nikolai Gogol, composers Sergei Prokofiev and Dmitri Shostakovich and former leaders #Yeltsin and Nikita #Khrushchev.
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