Schedule problems will prevent Russian President Vladimir Putin from attending this Saturday, September 3, the funeral of the last leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, who died last Tuesday at the age of 91. To compensate, this Thursday he said goodbye to the father of perestroika by going to the hospital where he died and laying a bouquet of flowers next to his coffin.
Putin's press officer, Dimitri Peskov, explained that the Kremlin chief has a very tight work schedule that prevents him from attending the events on Saturday. He added that for this reason Putin had paid his respects to Gorbachev this very Thursday before embarking on a trip to the Kaliningrad region.
"Unfortunately, the president's work schedule will not allow him to do it on September 3, so he has decided to do it today," Peskov said.
The spokesman also tried to clarify whether Gorbachev's funeral will have a state character. The Interfax agency had reported on Wednesday that it was not going to be, but then Peskov specified that it was a matter that had not yet been decided.
According to Peskov's words this Thursday, there will be no full state funeral. He assured that the funeral will have "elements" of a state funeral. That includes an honor guard and the fact that the state is helping to organize the events, he pointed out.
The events in honor of Gorbachev will begin on September 3 in the Hall of Columns of the House of Trade Unions, located in the center of Moscow, next to the Duma building. Later, he will be buried in the Novadievichi cemetery, next to his wife Raísa, who died in 1999.
