Mikhail Gorbachev, the final leader of the Soviet Union and a reformer who helped end the Cold War and lead his country from communism to capitalism, died Tuesday at the age of 92, according to Russian news reports.
“Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev died this evening after a serious and long illness,” the Central Clinical Hospital reported, according to Interfax.
Born in the village of Privolnoye, Gorbachev grew up a committed communist during World War II. He wound up winning a Nobel Peace prize in 1990 for helping end the Cold War.
Unlike his predecessors, when pro-democracy protests that began in Poland wound up sweeping across the Soviet bloc in 1989 Gorbachev did not send in Soviet tanks to crush the uprisings.
But within two years the Soviet Union itself began to disintegrate as the captive Baltic nations of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia peeled away.
This is a developing story, check back for updates.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
