HAS ANYONE EVER RECEIVED MORE CREDIT FOR HIS MASSIVE FAILURE?:

Indeed, throughout Gorbachev's time at the helm, the USSR continued to use brute force to put down any hint of insurrection. 

In 1986, 200 Kazakhs were killed in protests against the appointment of a Russian Party boss in the region that was perceived as a further attempt at Russification.  In 1988, Soviet troops opened fire against Armenian protestors, the ensuing clashes sparked racial tensions in the region and ultimately lead to the Nagorno-Karabakh wars. In April 1989, peaceful Georgian protestors were killed by members of the Soviet Army wielding batons and spades. When fresh protestors gathered against the deaths of the previous ones, the Soviet Army deployed nerve agents against the crowds.

In 1990, Gorbachev turned a blind eye to ethnic clashes between Kyrgyz and Uzbek peoples - only sending in peacekeepers after the situation became too much to ignore. Even then they were told to stay in cities, allowing the situation in the countryside to collapse. Estimates vary as to the death toll, but some place it as high as 1,000 people.

Nor should we forget the intense struggle faced by the Baltic state for their independence. Dozens were killed during the Vilnius Massacre in Lithuania and the 'Barricades' in Latvia, with hundreds more injured.

Most toxic of all is, arguably, Chernobyl - the cover-up of which caused untold damage to the surrounding area and put the entire world at enormous risk. As Ukrainian politician Alla Yaroshinskaia has written, the reaction to the accident was a 'classic Soviet cover-up', in which 'the number of people radically affected by the explosion was kept secret and the result was far greater mortality and suffering'. [...]

Perhaps most telling is how unapologetic Gorbachev remained in his later life. In numerous interviews he stated his regret that the Soviet Union had collapsed at all, and even suggested that it should have been held together. In 2014, he even applauded the annexation of Crimea by Russia - a move that saw him banned from Ukraine. 

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