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People wait patiently in front of the "House of Trade Unions" in Moscow.
They all want to pay their last respects to Mikhail Gorbachev, the last President of the Soviet Union died on Tuesday after a serious illness at the age of 91.
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A boy shows a woman a biography of Gorbachev, "His life, his time," they say.
Although Gorbachev is one of the defining figures in Russian and Soviet history, he was denied a state funeral.
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Sunflowers for Gorbachev.
The late statesman was patron of the Green Belt of Europe, a conservation project dedicated to preserving thousands of kilometers of greenery across the continent.
During the Cold War, the strip was the Iron Curtain.
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"Thank you, Mikhail Sergeyevich," reads a dove of peace tinkered with a bunch of roses.
The Nobel Peace Prize winner Gorbachev is considered one of the fathers of German unity and a pioneer for the end of the Cold War.
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The "House of Trade Unions" near the Kremlin was a traditional place for funeral services for heads of state in the Soviet Union.
Lenin and Stalin were also laid out here so that the people could say goodbye.
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In the magnificent columned hall, not only members of the Russian honor guard but also security guards lined up.
Citizens created a sea of roses.
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With the honor guards, it looked like a state funeral.
Gorbachev is viewed critically by a large part of the population, who see him as the gravedigger of the Soviet Union.
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After his resignation as President of the Soviet Union in 1991, Boris Yeltsin became a new strong man in Moscow, Gorbachev and his political foundation took care of democratic values and Russia's rapprochement with the West.
In recent years, Gorbachev has repeatedly called on Vladimir Putin not to further restrict the freedom of the media and elections.
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A banner near the funeral service looks like mockery: "We will fulfill the task," it says, with the "Z" and the "V" emphasized.
The letters became known as identification marks of the Russian military in the Ukraine war, and the Kremlin also uses them in their own country to solicit support from their own people.
Photo: DER SPIEGEL
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