Young man splashes water in Mikhail Gorbachev's face for break-up of the USSR

The man blamed Mikhail Gorbachev for depriving an entire generation of its future

At a sitting of the Molodaya Gvardia (Young Guards) discussion club on Thursday dedicated to youth policy issues, Leader of the Red Youth Vanguard Sergey Udaltsov threw water in ex-president of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev who also participated in the meeting.

At the sitting, Mikhail Gorbachev was rather nostalgic when he spoke about the bygone Komsomol epoch (the communist youth organization in the USSR) and touched upon the present-day youth policy. Sergey Udaltsov spoke right after the ex-president of the USSR. He blamed Mikhail Gorbachev for depriving an entire generation of its future and threw water out of his glass at Gorbachev. RIA Novosti reports that just a few drops fell on Mikhail Gorbachev, the rest of the water fell upon the host of the discussion. Security took Udaltsov out of the conference hall.

Right after the detention, Udaltsov was delivered to Molodezhnaya Hotel where he was kept under custody. Udaltsov himself reported the information to Interfax by phone. Two more members of the Red Youth Vanguard were detained together with the leader of the movement.

Sergey Udaltsov says that he threw water in the face of the ex-president of the USSR because he disagreed with Gorbachev's views. He said that Gorbachev spoke about perestroika as if it was good for the country. Meanwhile, Udaltsov believes that Mikhail Gorbachev is “responsible for the break-up of the Soviet Union, for betrayal of the country and the party that he led.” Sergey Udaltsov does not regret expressing his views this way.

As for Mikhail Gorbachev, he supposes that Udaltsov sought to produce a strong PR effect when he threw water in his face. “It is not for the first time that political opponents throw water at each other, and this reveals the level of political culture in the society,” Mikhail Gorbachev says.