The last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, was awarded Russia's top medal on his 80th birthday on Wednesday in a late and almost reluctant recognition of his services to the country.
The Order of St. Andrew conferred on Mr. Gorbachev is the first and only award he has received in the past 20 years since his resignation in 1991 following the breakup of the Soviet Union.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev told Mr. Gorbachev during a meeting in Mr. Medvedev's residence outside Moscow that he would present him the award “later” at a Kremlin ceremony. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin congratulated Mr. Gorbachev in a telegram, calling him “one of the great statesmen of modern times”. No official functions are being held to celebrate Mr. Gorbachev's jubilee.
Mr. Gorbachev is throwing a private party in Moscow on Wednesday and will mark his 80th anniversary in a big way at a charitable gala concert in London's Royal Albert Hall on March 30 to help raise money for treating blood cancer, the disease that killed his wife Raisa in 1999.
Experts said the Kremlin's cool attitude to Mr. Gorbachev is partly due to his recent sharp criticism of Russia's leaders for presiding over “imitation of democracy” and “clinging to power by exploiting the country's resources”. The Kremlin also takes into account a largely negative view of Mr. Gorbachev shared by most Russians who blame him for destroying the Soviet Union.
