Russian Government Gets Gorbachev's Name Wrong in Birthday Letter

By The Moscow Times

March 2, 2016

Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev Pascal Dumont / MT

The Russian government in an congratulatory letter to former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev gave him the wrong name, a screenshot posted Wednesday by journalist Lidia Kelly on her Twitter account revealed.

The screenshot revealed that Gorbachev was called Sergei in the letter published on the official government website Wednesday. The letter contained birthday wishes to the former leader from Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.

The name was later corrected in a statement.

On Wednesday, the first and last president of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev celebrated his 85th birthday.

His presidency was marked by the end of the Cold War, the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan and the collapse of the Soviet Union.

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