Main content
Mikhail Gorbachev: Release of 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)
Last on
Sat 3 Sep 2022
23:50GMT
±«Óãtv World Service Australasia
More episodes
Broadcasts
- Fri 2 Sep 2022 07:50GMT±«Óãtv World Service
- Fri 2 Sep 2022 11:50GMT±«Óãtv World Service
- Fri 2 Sep 2022 17:50GMT±«Óãtv World Service except East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa
- Fri 2 Sep 2022 21:50GMT±«Óãtv World Service East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa only
- Sat 3 Sep 2022 02:50GMT±«Óãtv World Service except Australasia
- Sat 3 Sep 2022 23:50GMT±«Óãtv World Service Australasia
Podcast
-
![]()
Witness History
History as told by the people who were there
