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Witness History: Mikhail Gorbachev: Release of Irina Ratushinskaya

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Mikhail Gorbachev - The Imprisonment of Irina Ratushinskaya

02/09/2022 GMT

Mikhail Gorbachev: Release of Irina Ratushinskaya

BBC World Service - Witness History, Mikhail Gorbachev: Release of Irina Ratushinskaya

The imprisonment and release of dissident poet Irina Ratushinskaya

On 9 October 1986 the dissident poet Irina Ratushinskaya was released from a prison camp on the eve of a US-Soviet nuclear summit between Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan.

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)

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