Highlights from ex-Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev’s life




















































ASSOCIATED PRESS
Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev says in Moscow that a local military commander ordered the use of force in the breakaway republic of Lithuania, where an assault by Soviet troops on Jan. 13, 1991 claimed 14 lives. Russian news agencies are reporting that former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev has died at 91. The Tass, RIA Novosti and Interfax news agencies cited the Central Clinical Hospital.KOMMSOMOL YOUNG COMMUNIST LEAGUE VIA AP
In this undated photo obtained from the Kommsomol Young Communist League, Mikhail Gorbachev poses for a picture at the age of 19, wearing the Red Banner of Labor medal he received for driving a harvest combine on the plains of southern Russia.ASSOCIATED PRESS
Member of Communist Party of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev poses for a picture, Tuesday, Oct. 21, 1980.ASSOCIATED PRESS
Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, left, and Britain's Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher pose for a picture in London, Saturday, Dec. 15, 1984.ASSOCIATED PRESS
President Ronald Reagan, left, and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev talk during their meeting outside the vila Fleur D'Eau at Versoix, near Geneva, Switzerland, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 1985.ASSOCIATED PRESS
Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev addresses the National Parliament, in Moscow, Soviet Union on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 1985.ASSOCIATED PRESS
Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev, left, and U.S. President Ronald Reagan talk during their meeting in Reykjavik, Iceland, Saturday, Oct. 11, 1986.ASSOCIATED PRESS
Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, right, and U.S. President Ronald Reagan speak to press in Washington, USA, Tuesday, Dec. 8, 1987.ASSOCIATED PRESS
U.S. President Ronald Reagan, left, and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev talk during their walk in Red Square, with St. Basil's Cathedral in the background, in Moscow, Soviet Union, Tuesday, May 31, 1988.ASSOCIATED PRESS
Cuban President Fidel Castro, right, and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev wave to the crowd as their motorcade takes them through downtown Havana, Cuba, Monday, April 3, 1989.ASSOCIATED PRESS
Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev and his wife Raisa wave to a crowd during their visit in Paris, France, Wednesday, July 5, 1989.ASSOCIATED PRESS
Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, center left, kisses East Germany leader Erich Honecker during their meeting in Berlin, East Germany, Friday, Oct. 6, 1989.ASSOCIATED PRESS
Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev waves from the Red Square tribune during a Revolution Day celebration, in Moscow, Soviet Union, Tuesday, Nov. 7, 1989.ASSOCIATED PRESS
Pope John Paul II shakes hands with Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev in the first ever meeting between a Kremlin chief and a Pontiff, in Vatican, Friday, Dec. 1, 1989.ASSOCIATED PRESS
Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev gestures while speaking to Lithuanians at the Lenin monument in Vilnius, Soviet Union, Thursday, Jan. 11, 1990.ASSOCIATED PRESS
Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, left, and President George H. Bush shake hands following the signing of accords at the White House in Washington, Friday, June 1, 1990.ASSOCIATED PRESS
Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev addresses a group of 150 business executives in San Francisco, Monday, June 5, 1990.ASSOCIATED PRESS
Russian President Boris Yeltsin, right, shakes hands with Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev and thanks him for meeting with the Russian People's Deputies at the Russian Federation building, in Moscow, Russia on Aug. 23, 1991.ASSOCIATED PRESS
President of the Russian Federation Boris Yeltsin, left, and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev enter the podium at the start of the closing session of the Congress of People in Moscow, Russia on Thursday, Sept. 5, 1991.ASSOCIATED PRESS
Former Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev, eighth and final leader of the Soviet Union, closes his resignation speech on the table after delivering it on television in the Kremlin, Moscow, Russia on Wednesday, Dec. 25, 1991.ASSOCIATED PRESS
Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, right, stands with Russian President Boris Yeltsin in Moscow, Russia in this 1991 photo.ASSOCIATED PRESS
Former U.S. President Clinton, center, shares a laugh with Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, right, and Bono, left, of the rock group U2, before a dinner hosted by Mr. Gorbachev, at the Russian Embassy in New York in honor of the Frank Foundation Child Assistance International of Washington D.C. on Sunday, March 10, 2002.ASSOCIATED PRESS
Russia's President Vladimir Putin, right, talks with former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev at the start of a news conference at the Castle of Gottorf in Schleswig, northern Germany, Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2004.ASSOCIATED PRESS
Former President of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev, left, is greeted by former U.S. President George H.W. Bush during their meeting in Houston, Thursday, Nov. 1, 2012.ASSOCIATED PRESS
Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev speaks to the Associated Press during an interview at his foundation's headquarters, in Moscow, Russia, Friday, Dec. 9, 2016.ASSOCIATED PRESS
Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, center, is helped by his assistants as he arrives to attend the Victory Day military parade to celebrate 74 years since the victory in WWII in Red Square in Moscow, Russia on Thursday, May 9, 2019.