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| Putin not present at Gorbachev funeral |
It's no secret that Russian leader Vladimir Putin is not a fan of the political legacy of Mikhail Gorbachev. That became clearer than ever on Thursday when the Kremlin announced that Putin will not attend the former Soviet leader's funeral this weekend, reports CNN. "Putin's work schedule will not allow him to take part," says spokesman Dmitry Peskov. Putin, who has called the demise of the USSR under Gorbachev "the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century," did pay his respects Thursday at the Moscow hospital where Gorbachev died by laying flowers at his coffin.