Mikhail S. Gorbachev wrote often about issues including world affairs and climate change. He also mourned former President Ronald Reagan and the former British prime minister, Margaret Thatcher.
Tag: Cold War Era
Mikhail Gorbachev, Who Oversaw the End of the Soviet Union, Is Dead at 91
Adopting principles of glasnost and perestroika, he weighed the legacy of seven decades of Communist rule and set a new course, presiding over the end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the U.S.S.R.
Vadim V. Bakatin, the Last Chairman of the K.G.B., Dies at 84
He led the spy agency for only a few months, promising to reduce its size and rein in its excesses. After he left, it bounced back under a new name.
Dmitri Vrubel, Who Planted a Kiss on the Berlin Wall, Dies at 62
A Russian-born painter, he created a mural of the Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev smooching the East German leader Erich Honecker — and with it a tourist attraction.
Reckoning With Memories of Budapest
A Times journalist spent three months capturing a contemporary portrait of Hungary’s capital, where he lived for several years as a child in the early ’90s.
José Eduardo dos Santos, Longtime Angolan Ruler, Dies at 79
As Angola’s president for 38 years, Mr. dos Santos ended the country’s civil war. He also launched an economic boom, but it mainly benefited his family and friends.
Kaliningrad, Russian Outpost, Is Again a Flash Point in East-West Relations
Wedged between Poland and Lithuania and bristling with missiles capable of flinging conventional or nuclear warheads into Europe, Kaliningrad has become emblematic of the Cold War era.
How Ukraine’s Greatest Novelist Is Fighting for His Country
Andrey Kurkov has spent his life writing about realities so absurd they defy satire. It was perfect preparation for this moment.
A Mini-Russia Gets Squeezed by War
The self-declared republic of Transnistria, on the Ukraine border, has been steered by Moscow for decades. During a rare visit, a reporter and photographer get an inside look into how it operates, and hear from Transnistrians their fears of war.