RUSSIA: FUNERAL OF RAISA GORBACEHV TAKES PLACE IN MOSOCW.

Record ID: 630443

  • Title: RUSSIA: FUNERAL OF RAISA GORBACEHV TAKES PLACE IN MOSOCW.
  • Date: 23rd September 1999
  • Summary: MOSCOW, RUSSIA (SEPTEMBER 23, 1999) (REUTERS- ACCESS ALL) 1. GV: VIEW OF NOVODEVICHY MONESTERY 0.03 2. GV: PROCESSION CARRYING COFFIN WITH THE BODY OF RAISA GORBACHEV AND WREATHS 0.10 3. MV: MAN LEADING THE PROCESSION WITH A FRAMED PHOTO OF RAISA GORBACHEV IN BLACK DRESS 0.18 4. GV/PAN: FORMER SOVIET LEADER MIKHAIL GORBACHEV AND FAMILY
  • Embargoed: 8th October 1999 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: MOSCOW, RUSSIA
  • Country: Russia
  • Reuters ID: LVACBHVAJOTQ4X53JBLKGT577GTL
  • Story Text: The funeral's taken place of Raisa Gorbachev, wife of
    the former Soviet President.It was an emotional occasion and
    Mikhail Gorbachev wiped away tears several times during the
    service in Moscow.

    It was a simple but stylish funeral in keeping with
    the renowned elegance of Raisa Gorbachev, who helped change
    the image of the Kremlin leadership, winning friends abroad
    but enemies at home.

    She lost her fight for life in a German hospital earlier
    this week where she was being treated for leukaemia.

    A number of foreign dignitaries were present including
    Germany's former Chancellor Helmet Kohl, along with Russian
    President Boris Yeltsin's wife Naina and former Russian prime
    ministers.

    After a religious service, the coffin was carried down a
    path strewn with long-stemmed flowers to the marble platform
    for a final farewell before the private burial nearby.

    A man held a framed photograph of Raisa in a typically
    glamorous black dress and jewellery.Others walked behind
    carrying huge wreaths, including one from Yeltsin.

    Gorbachev, red-eyed and weary, walked behind the coffin,
    accompanied by his daughter Irina, his sister-in law Valentina
    and two grandaughters Ksenia and Anastasia.

    The former Soviet leader stroked his wife's face and hair
    and whispered to her before the coffin was closed and lowered
    into a grave.

    His grief at the loss of his partner in life was there for
    all to see.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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