Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union and architect of reforms that led to the downfall of that country's one-party rule, was released from the hospital Friday, but he told Russian media he remains in a struggle against deteriorating health caused by an “aggravation” of his acute diabetes.
The former Communist Party leader, 83, was rushed to a Moscow hospital Thursday and spent the night “lying down under a monitor, all covered with wires,” he told Russian News Service radio.
Gorbachev was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990 for his role in shepherding Eastern Europe out of totalitarian rule. President Reagan said of him: “There was warmth in his face and his style, not the coldness bordering on hatred I'd seen in most senior Soviet officials I'd met until then.”
Gorbachev hopes to recover in time to travel to Germany next month for the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.
