Mikhail Gorbachev, last leader of the Soviet Union, dies

The last leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbechev, has died, aged 91. The former president opened up the Soviet Union but failed to prevent its collapse in 1991.

Praised in the West for being on the right side of history, he is viewed differently now in Russia, as the man who presided over the dissolution of the Soviet Empire.

Russia's President, Vladimir Putin said today that Mikhail Gorbachev has a huge impact on world history.

Also in the programme: we speak to a writer of Mr Gorbachev's famous Pizza Hut advert; and as a team from the nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, heads for Europe's largest nuclear power plant in Zaphorizhia, we hear from Ukraine's ambassador to the organisation.

(Photo shows former Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev on 10 June 2006. Credit: Chris Radburn/PA)