Funeral of last Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to take place on Saturday
September 1, 2022, 10:01 am

Funeral of last Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to take place on Saturday

Mikhail Gorbachev, the former president of the Soviet Union, died today at the age of 91 - Photo. Franklin Graham official Facebook page

The funeral of the Soviet Union's last leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who died on Tuesday (August 30) in Moscow aged 91, will take place on Saturday (September 3), Russian news agencies reported, citing Gorbachev's daughter and a spokesperson for his foundation.

According to Reuters, the funeral will take place in the famous Hall of Columns inside Moscow's House of Unions, Russian news agencies reported, the same place where Josef Stalin's body was put on display following his death in 1953.

The service will be open to the public and Gorbachev will then be buried at Moscow's central Novodevichy Cemetery, the TASS news agency cited Vladimir Polyakov, press secretary for the Gorbachev Foundation, as saying.

The TASS news agency reported Peskov as saying that the Kremlin would announce later whether President Vladimir Putin would attend Gorbachev's funeral.

It is said it took President Putin more than 15 hours to publish the text of a restrained condolence message in which he said Gorbachev had had a “huge impact on the course of world history” and “deeply understood that reforms were necessary” to tackle the problems of the Soviet Union in the 1980s.

Mikhail Gorbachev © Dmitry Serebryakov/TASS

Putin earlier on Wednesday (August 31) sent Gorbachev's relatives his condolences via telegram, while the Kremlin hailed the late politician as an extraordinary global statesman who helped end the Cold War, but had been badly wrong about the prospect of rapprochement with the "bloodthirsty" West.

During the Soviet Union, burial in the Novodevichy Cemetery was second in prestige only to burial in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis.

It took Putin 15 hours to publish a restrained condolence message on Gorbachev

Among the Soviet leaders, only Nikita Khrushchev was buried at the Novodevichy rather than at Red Square, however, Mikhail Gorbachev will be buried there according to his will.

Dozens of high-ranking politicians, poets, royals and intellectuals have been buried at the cemetery since it was established in the 16th century - among them Boris Yeltsin, Russia's first president and Gorbachev's political rival.

It is also the resting place of Gorbachev's wife, Raisa, who died in 1999.

Last Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who is awarded Nobel Peace Prize, dies at age of 91

Novodevichy Cemetery lies next to the southern wall of the 16th-century Novodevichy Convent, which is the city's third most popular tourist site.

Since the fall of the Soviet Union, the Kremlin Wall is no longer used for burials and the Novodevichy Cemetery is used for only the most symbolically significant burials.

levantnews-agencies

Germany says it will expand military presence in Indo-Pacific as China threat looms Powerful typhoon hits southern Japan, the11th so far this year

BENEFIT, the Kingdom’s innovator and leading company in Fintech and electronic financial transactions service, has sponsored the BuildHer CityHack 2025 Hackathon, a two-day event spearheaded by the College of Engineering and Technology at the Royal University for Women (RUW).
Aimed at secondary school students, the event brought together a distinguished group of academic professionals and technology experts to mentor and inspire young participants.
More than 100 high school students from across the Kingdom of Bahrain took part in the hackathon, which featured an intensive programme of training workshops and hands-on sessions. These activities were tailored to enhance participants’ critical thinking, collaborative problem-solving, and team-building capabilities, while also encouraging the development of practical and sustainable solutions to contemporary challenges using modern technological tools.
BENEFIT’s Chief Executive Mr. Abdulwahed AlJanahi, commented: “Our support for this educational hackathon reflects our long-term strategic vision to nurture the talents of emerging national youth and empower the next generation of accomplished female leaders in technology. By fostering creativity and innovation, we aim to contribute meaningfully to Bahrain’s comprehensive development goals and align with the aspirations outlined in the Kingdom’s Vision 2030—an ambition in which BENEFIT plays a central role.”
Professor Riyadh Yousif Hamzah, President of the Royal University for Women, commented: “This initiative reflects our commitment to advancing women in STEM fields. We're cultivating a generation of creative, solution-driven female leaders who will drive national development. Our partnership with BENEFIT exemplifies the powerful synergy between academia and private sector in supporting educational innovation.”
Hanan Abdulla Hasan, Senior Manager, PR & Communication at BENEFIT, said: “We are honoured to collaborate with RUW in supporting this remarkable technology-focused event. It highlights our commitment to social responsibility, and our ongoing efforts to enhance the digital and innovation capabilities of young Bahraini women and foster their ability to harness technological tools in the service of a smarter, more sustainable future.”
For his part, Dr. Humam ElAgha, Acting Dean of the College of Engineering and Technology at the University, said: “BuildHer CityHack 2025 embodies our hands-on approach to education. By tackling real-world problems through creative thinking and sustainable solutions, we're preparing women to thrive in the knowledge economy – a cornerstone of the University's vision.”