The last leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail GorbachevRussia says goodbye today.

His body is on display in the Hall of Columns, not far from the Kremlin, as was traditional with Soviet leaders.

Mikhail Gorbachev will be buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow next to his wife Raisa, who died in 1999. Gorbachev’s daughter Irina said the ceremony would be modest.

From the ceremony Russian President Vladimir Putin absent. On Thursday, Putin went to a Moscow hospital, where 91-year-old Gorbachev died after a long illness.

The President of Russia laid a bouquet of red roses at the open coffin of the last leader of the USSR, honored him with a minute of silence and bowed his head respectfully. However, the day of national mourning in Russia has not been declared, although, as the Kremlin stressed, its ceremony will have “all the elements of a state funeral.”

Orban in Moscow.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who goes against his European partners by increasing natural gas imports from Russia, traveled to Moscow this morning for Mikhail Gorbachev’s funeral.

However, as announced in the Kremlin, Orban will not meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. “According to our information, he will come to say goodbye to Gorbachev. There has been no announcement of a meeting,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

No other European leaders are expected to attend the funeral. While London, Paris and Berlin respect Gorbachev for his contribution to ending the Cold War, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has heightened tensions between the West and Moscow.

Due to the sanctions imposed on Russia and Russia’s retaliatory measures, commercial flights between the country and EU member states have been suspended, while Moscow has banned Western politicians from entering its territory in response to Western sanctions.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he had not received an invitation to Gorbachev’s funeral. His predecessor, Angela Merkel, declined the invitation, citing a knee injury. However, the ceremony will be attended by diplomats and ambassadors, including French Ambassador to Moscow Pierre Levy, as well as American John Sullivan.

^{With information from APE-MPE, AFP, DPA}