Gorbachev criticizes Putin's Russia as backsliding on democracy

Though Gorbachev originally welcomed Putin, he has grown increasingly critical over the past year.

'A man of principle'

Earlier this year he warned that Russia faces an "Arab Spring" type revolt if democratic reforms are not enacted, and he warned Putin not to seek a fresh term as president in elections slated for next March.

It's probably no coincidence that Gorbachev chose what is for him a very painful anniversary to launch his latest sally against Putin.

"Gorbachev is the man who started the democratic reforms. What he's saying about Putin isn't the position of some analyst but the standpoint of a man who has run this huge country and has a unique perspective," says Nikolai Petrov, an expert with the Carnegie Center in Moscow.

Though Gorbachev might have maintained power by using the military and secret police to crack down on his opponents, he never did that as Soviet leader.

Ironically, he ended up being placed under house arrest during the 1991 August Coup by a group of military and KGB hard-liners who were boiling with frustration over his refusal to use blunt force to preserve Communist Party rule.

"Gorbachev has demonstrated that he's a man of principle, and his behavior has not been a violation of those principles," says Mr. Petrov. "This makes him very different from the vast majority of Russian politicians, and worth listening to today."

The past two decades have been a rollercoaster ride for most Russians, who witnessed the implosion of superpower state they'd grown up in, followed by years of economic hardship, social fragmentation, and wild democratic experimentation that sometimes bordered on anarchy.

When Putin came to power in 2000 he moved to stabilize the economy, rebuild top-down state power, curb elections, rein in civil society and muzzle the media.

The Putin era has brought stability and relative prosperity, but has hollowed-out the democratic processes that Gorbachev championed.

"We have only gone half-way," Gorbachev complained.

"Russian democracy will advance – albeit with pain and much difficulty – and there will be no more dictatorship," although a return to authoritarianism remains possible, he added.

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