Long before his death, former Soviet President and Nobel Peace Prize winner Mikhail Gorbachev arranged his funeral. He is buried in Moscow's famous celebrity cemetery at the Novodevichy Convent, where he secured a grave next to his wife Raisa Gorbacheva, who died in Münster in 1999 after a serious illness. He was there often. However, it is unclear which international guests will come to the funeral in Moscow - in view of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine and the EU and US sanctions against the country.

Not only have many high-ranking politicians in the EU been banned from entering the country by the Russian side as a reaction to the Western sanctions. The airspace in Russia is also blocked for "unfriendly EU countries".

Many Western politicians are avoiding contact with Russia because of the invasion of Ukraine ordered by Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin a good six months ago. In view of the historical and international importance of Gorbachev, guests from abroad may also want to say goodbye to the politician, who was also considered one of the fathers of German unity.

Gorbachev died in Moscow on Tuesday evening at the age of 91 after a long illness. He was the last General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and had introduced the policies of glasnost (openness) and perestroika (transformation). In 1991 he resigned as Soviet President.