Mikhail Gorbachev discharged from hospital after he was admitted for tests
Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, 83, has been admitted to hospital but was determined to fight for his life, Russian press agencies reported.
Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, 83, has been discharged from hospital after being admitted for medical tests.
"I am feeling better today than I was yesterday. That is why doctors agreed that it was possible to allow me to leave the clinic," Gorbachev said.
"I have been discharged from the hospital and I am now heading to my office," he said.
Gorbachev, whose health has been ailing, had earlier said he was "alive and well" after undergoing unspecified tests at the clinic for high-ranking officials.
His spokesman said he had been treated on "an outpatient basis."
The Nobel Peace laureate and last leader of the Soviet Union has in recent years appeared tired during public appearances and is believed to be diabetic.
He was admitted to hospital in June last year for a general check-up.
Gorbachev became Soviet leader in 1985 and instituted the sweeping political and economic reforms that became known as (openness) and (rebuilding) in a move to re-energise the nation.
In 1991 his reforms gave the Moscow-controlled republics enough strength to declare independence, and for Russia together with Belarus and Ukraine to sign an agreement on the Soviet Union's dissolution.
He has since lamented the Soviet Union's collapse, explaining that his reforms were meant to save the ailing country through modernisation instead of the final result of breaking it apart.
Despite his broad global recognition, in recent years Gorbachev has played only a marginal role in Russian politics, though he has criticised Russian President Vladimir Putin and called for him to give up his increasingly widening powers.
