Gorbachev to be buried in low-key funeral snubbed by Putin

By JIM HEINTZ and VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV
Associated Press

MOSCOW (AP) — Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev is set to be buried in a ceremony falling short of a state funeral that will not be attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin or top international leaders. Saturday’s relatively low-key funeral reflects the Kremlin’s uneasiness about the legacy of Gorbachev, who has been revered in the West for ending the Cold War but despised by many at home for the collapse of the Soviet Union and the ensuing economic meltdown that plunged millions into poverty. Putin privately laid flowers at Gorbachev’s coffin on Thursday due to what the Kremlin described as a busy schedule that would prevent the president to attend Saturday’s funeral.