Two thousand people lined up in Moscow for Gorbachev’s funeral

MOSCOW – This morning in Moscow the funeral commemoration for Mikhail GOrbaciov. Two thousand lined up at the House of Unions. President Vladimir Putin, as expected, did not attend.

The ceremony began in the historic Pillar Hall of the Russian capital’s House of Trade Unions – which in the past has seen the funeral of all Soviet leaders. About two thousand people lined up, ordinary citizens and well-known faces, for the civil commemoration of the last leader of the USSR.

Among those present was former president and vice president of the Security Council Dmitry Medvedev. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán arrived in Moscow for the ceremony, but no meetings with the Russian president are planned.