For some he brought winds of change that could have paved the way for a better Russia, for others economic hardship and bitterness.
But despite his controversial legacy, many Russians on Wednesday last week agreed that Mikhail Gorbachev, who has died at the age of 91, was a key figure in the country’s history.
Gorbachev was in power between 1985 and 1991, stepping down in the final days of the Soviet Union.
Photo: Reuters 照片：路透
Some Russians lament the end of the Soviet era, holding Gorbachev personally responsible.
Gorbachev was superseded by the younger Boris Yeltsin, who became the first president of modern Russia.
Yeltsin’s transition of Russia to a market economy was marked by galloping inflation and food shortages in the 1990s, a time remembered bitterly by many Russians today.
Photo: AFP 照片：法新社
Some believe that without the collapse of the Soviet Union they would not have had to live through these economic hardships.
‘Traitor’ or reformer?
“We may not have been rich then, but we were guaranteed jobs,” said Tatyana Silayeva, a retired 67-year-old.
Photo: Reuters 照片：路透
As for Gorbachev, Silayeva said she views him “very negatively.”
“He did a good deed for the US — he let our country fall apart. And for us, he turned out to be a complete traitor.”
Gorbachev was credited with diffusing soaring Cold War-era tensions between Moscow and Washington, earning him respect in the West.
He was awarded the 1990 Nobel Peace Prize for negotiating a historic nuclear arms control pact with then US president Ronald Reagan.
“He gave both the country and the world an incredible gift — he gave us 30 years of peace. Without the threat of global and nuclear war,” Dmitry Muratov, the editor-in-chief of newspaper Novaya Gazeta, wrote in a tribute to Gorbachev.
During his tenure, Gorbachev championed freedom and change, and in particular used part of his Nobel prize winnings to help set up Novaya Gazeta — a leading independent publication for over two decades.
Novaya Gazeta, however, suspended publication in late March following Moscow’s military intervention in Ukraine, with independent media facing unprecedented pressure.
The growing crackdown on media and activism under President Vladimir Putin during his more than 20 years in power has been seen as a reversal of Gorbachev’s legacy.
However, for prominent post-Soviet rights activist Svetlana Gannushkina, the reforms started by Gorbachev cannot be undervalued.
“People who show aggression today are people who want to return to the Soviet system. These are people who were slaves and want to keep it that way,” the 80-year-old told AFP.
“They do not want to appreciate the one who gave them freedom. And Gorbachev gave us freedom.”
(AFP)
對某些人來說，他帶來了變革之風，這本可為更美好的俄羅斯鋪路，但對另一些人來說，他帶來了經濟困境與痛苦。
但上週三，儘管人們對他所留給後世的遺續褒貶不一，許多俄羅斯人同意，享年九十一歲的米哈伊爾‧戈巴契夫是俄羅斯歷史上的關鍵人物。
戈巴契夫在一九八五年至一九九一年間執政，而在蘇聯解體前夕下台。
一些俄羅斯人為蘇聯時代的結束而悲嘆，認為戈巴契夫個人要負責。
戈巴契夫被年輕的鮑里斯‧葉爾欽取代，葉爾欽成為今俄國的第一任總統。
一九九?年代葉爾欽將俄羅斯轉型為市場經濟，所留下的是急遽的通貨膨脹及糧食短缺，此時期的痛苦記憶 ，今日許多俄羅斯人仍歷歷在目。
一些人認為，蘇聯若沒有解體，他們就不必經歷這些經濟窘境。
「叛徒」抑或改革者？
六十七歲的退休人士塔堤揚娜‧西拉耶娃說：「那時我們即便不富裕，但工作有保障」。
至於戈巴契夫，西拉耶娃說她「非常負面地」看待他。
「他為美國做了件好事——他讓我們的國家分崩離析。對我們來說，他到頭來竟是個徹頭徹尾的叛徒」。
戈巴契夫因緩解冷戰時期莫斯科與華盛頓之間急遽升高的緊張關係而受到讚譽，在西方贏得尊敬。
他因與美國總統隆納‧雷根談判一項歷史性的核子武器裁撤協定，而獲得一九九?年諾貝爾和平獎。
「他給了兩國與世界一個不可思議的禮物——他給了我們三十年的和平。沒有全球戰爭與核戰的威脅」，《新報》總編輯德米特里‧穆拉托夫在對戈巴契夫的頌詞中寫道。
戈巴契夫在任期間倡導自由與變革，尤其是用所獲之諾貝爾獎部分獎金協助設立了《新報》──二十多年來，它是具代表性的獨立出版刊物。
然而，在莫斯科對烏克蘭進行軍事干預後，《新報》於三月下旬暫停出版，獨立媒體面臨前所未有的壓力。
弗拉迪米爾‧普亭總統在其執政二十多年來對媒體與政治活動日益嚴厲的鎮壓，被視為對戈巴契夫遺緒的逆轉。
然而，對著名的後蘇聯維權活動家斯維特拉娜‧甘努希金娜來說，戈巴契夫所發起的改革不容低估。
八十歲的甘努希金娜告訴法新社說：「今天表現出侵略性的人，是想回到蘇聯體制的人。這些人曾經是奴隸，而且想保持這種狀態」。
「他們不想感激給他們自由的人。而戈巴契夫給了我們自由」。
（台北時報林俐凱編譯）
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