Day 189: Putin Pays Tribute to Gorbachev, Russia Reportedly Welcomes Permanent IAEA Mission at Nuclear Plant
Facts
- Russian Pres. Vladimir Putin offered his "deepest condolences" to the family of Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union who died aged 91 in Moscow on Tuesday. "Mikhail Gorbachev was a politician and statesman who had a huge impact on the course of global history," Putin said in a telegram to the family which was published on the Kremlin website on Wednesday.
- Putin reportedly had a strained relationship with Gorbachev, whose openness reforms ultimately led the Soviet Union to break up into 15 states, precipitating its collapse and his resignation in 1991. At that time, Putin had been a KGB agent in east Germany. The Kremlin said a decision was yet to be made about whether Gorbachev would receive a state funeral.
- Meanwhile, as the departure of a team from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant was confirmed by Kyiv, the agency's head, Rafael Grossi, called for a permanent presence of IAEA representatives at the site. According to Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia's representative to the international organizations in Vienna, Russia welcomes the idea. Inspectors are expected to visit the plant on Thursday.
- Elsewhere, the European Union's 27 member states continue to disagree over a proposal to ban tourist visas for Russian citizens. Foreign ministers for Belgium, France, Germany and the Czech Republic argued it might be wrong to block Russians who may oppose the war and who come to Europe for humanitarian reasons. Meanwhile, Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have threatened to impose their own controls if the EU does not.
- In the meantime, amid rising concerns ahead of winter, Russian gas giant Gazprom temporarily halted all gas supplies via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Germany on Wednesday. Initially announced earlier this month, flow will be stopped for three days while technicians carry out maintenance on the last functioning turbine, the company said in a statement.
- On the ground, fierce fighting continued along several fronts in the region of Donetsk, as well as across the southern front near Zaporizhzhia. Russian shelling was also reported in Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk. At least one civilian was reported killed and several more were injured.
Sources: Guardian, US, Associated Press, and Pravda.
Narratives
- Narrative A, as provided by Tass. As demonstrated by Putin's telegram, the Russian Pres. and Gorbachev shared a friendship and respect that lasted until the latter's death. Putin considers him a bright and preeminent statesman that profoundly shaped the course of global history.
- Narrative B, as provided by The Guardian. Given that Putin had been a KGB agent in east Germany when Gorbachev oversaw the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Pres. was never fond of the USSR's last leader - a fact reflected in how carefully worded his condolence message was. After all, it's Putin that described the collapse of the Soviet Union as the "greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century."