'A great politician is gone': Russians pay tribute to Gorbachev at Moscow farewell ceremony

'A great politician is gone': Russians pay tribute to Gorbachev at Moscow farewell ceremony

Moscow residents queue to attend the farewell ceremony for Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the USSR, who died on August 30 at the age of 91.

One of the great political figures of the 20th century, he was lionised in the West for helping to end the Cold War and trying to change the USSR, but despised by many in Russia for the economic chaos and loss of global influence that followed the Soviet collapse.

Among those present at his farewell ceremony however, there is only respect for the man who brought 'a breath of freedom', in the words of teacher Natalia Leleko.