Mikhail Gorbachev, Soviet Union leader who ended Cold war, dies at 91

Gorbachev won the 1990 Nobel Peace Prize for his role in ending the Cold War and spent his later years collecting accolades and awards from all corners of the world

Mikhail Gorbachev, who set out to revitalise the Soviet Union but ended up unleashing forces that led to the collapse of communism, the break-up of the state and the end of the Cold War, died on Tuesday. The last Soviet leader was 91.

Gorbachev died after a long illness, according to a statement from the Central Clinical Hospital in Moscow. No other details were given.

Though in power for less than seven years, Gorbachev unleashed a breathtaking series of changes. But they quickly overtook him and resulted in the collapse of the authoritarian Soviet state, the freeing of Eastern European nations from