logo
episode-header-image
Sep 2022
10m 21s

Mikhail Gorbachev: Release of Irina Ratu...

Bbc World Service
About this episode

Mikhail Gorbachev - the last leader of the Soviet Union - has died aged 91. On the eve of an important summit on nuclear disarmament between the Soviet Union and America in October 1986, Gorbachev ordered the release of a dissident poet called Irina Ratushinskaya.

In 2012, Louise Hidalgo spoke to Irina about her imprisonment, her poetry, and the day she was set free.

(Photo: Irina and her husband Igor, arriving in London in December 1986. Credit: Topfoto)

Up next
Today
Creating CAPTCHA
In 2000, as the internet expanded, websites faced a growing challenge to stop spam bots from flooding their systems.To separate humans from machines, researchers at the United States’ Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, created the Completely Automated Public ... Show More
10m 7s
Yesterday
The creation of the International Criminal Court
In 1998, at a conference organised by the United Nations, a blueprint was devised for what would be the world's first permanent International Criminal Court.Judge Phillipe Kirsch chaired the Rome conference that led to the formation of the court. He tells Gill Kearsley about the ... Show More
10m 23s
Aug 22
Geneva Conventions
In 1859, Swiss businessman Henry Dunant witnessed the Battle of Solferino, in Italy. He couldn’t believe the lack of aid for the wounded soldiers and came up with two ideas – a voluntary aid organisation and an international treaty to protect those injured in wartime. They went o ... Show More
10m 2s
Recommended Episodes
Sep 2022
Gorbachev's legacy
The former President of the Soviet Union's reforms in 1987, known as Perestroika, and the release of the dissident poet Irina Ratushinskaya in 1986. Plus a survivor of the Marikana Massacre in South Africa, the Native American nicknamed 'the Last Indian' and Princess Diana's danc ... Show More
49m 54s
Sep 2022
How Gorbachev Changed the World
Few leaders have had as profound an effect on their time as Mikhail S. Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union, who died this week at 91.It was not Mr. Gorbachev’s intention to liquidate the Soviet empire when he came to power in 1985. But after little more than six tumult ... Show More
41m 57s
Sep 2022
Mikhail Gorbachov
Este 30 de agosto de 2022 falleció Mikhail Gorbachov, el último hombre que cargó el mando de la Unión Soviética. En esta pequeña nota de actualidad les contamos algo de la relevancia histórica de este personaje y el porqué su figura es fundamental para entender el presente de la ... Show More
10m 21s
Sep 2022
The legacy of Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union, has died at the age of 91 in Moscow. He was credited with bringing the Cold War to a peaceful end and ushering in an era of openness and reform in the Soviet Union, which ultimately led to its collapse. Emily Tamkin in Washi ... Show More
28m 2s
Nov 2017
The Russian Revolution: The Bolsheviks Take Control
Eye-witness accounts from the Russian Revolution of October 1917; the first dog in space; Sabah, one of the biggest 20th-century stars of the Middle East; the last journalist to interview Osama Bin Laden; and horror and heartbreak: memories of the First World War.Picture: Bolshev ... Show More
49m 59s
Mar 2022
4. The Shallow Roots of Democracy
Cementing power in Russia, a revolution in Ukraine and a challenge to the US - Jonny Dymond examines Vladimir Putin’s second term as president. To help him make sense of how this tumultuous period from 2004 to 2008 began a path towards events we are witnessing today, he’s joined ... Show More
33m 5s
Mar 2022
159. Young Putin, the KGB and the Soviet Union
[Episode 1 of 4] Welcome to our new four part series on the latter years of the Soviet Union, its fall, Putin's early life and his subsequent rise to power. Today's episode focuses on Brezhnev, Putin's formative years, his early KGB career and Gorbachev's descent into chaos. Was ... Show More
37m 28s
Feb 2022
The Fall of the Soviet Union
In August 1991 there was an attempted coup in the Soviet Union as communist hard-liners sought to re-establish the dominance of Soviet rule in Russia and its satellite states. The coup attempt collapsed after three days and it eventually led to the collapse of communism. Mikhail ... Show More
28m 16s