Mikhail Gorbachev died shocked and bewildered by Ukraine conflict, his long-time interpreter says
- Pavel Palazhchenko, who worked with the ex-Soviet president for 37 years, says the former leader was ‘crushed’ by Moscow’s worsening ties with Kyiv
- He says Gorbachev believed not just in the closeness of the Russian and Ukrainian people, but that those two nations were intermingled
Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Soviet leader, was shocked and bewildered by the Ukraine conflict in the months before he died and was psychologically crushed in recent years by Moscow’s worsening ties with Kyiv, his interpreter said on Thursday.
Pavel Palazhchenko, who worked with the late Soviet president for 37 years and was at his side at numerous US-Soviet summits, spoke to Gorbachev a few weeks ago by phone and said he and others had been struck by how traumatised he was by events in Ukraine.
“It’s not just the [special military] operation that started on February 24, but the entire evolution of relations between Russia and Ukraine over the past years that was really, really a big blow to him. It really crushed him emotionally and psychologically,” Palazhchenko said in an interview.
“It was very obvious to us in our conversations with him that he was shocked and bewildered by what was happening [after Russian troops entered Ukraine in February] for all kinds of reasons. He believed not just in the closeness of the Russian and Ukrainian people, he believed that those two nations were intermingled.”
President Vladimir Putin sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine on February 24 in what he called a “special military operation” to ensure Russia’s security against an expanding Nato military alliance and to protect Russian-speakers.