We don’t know most of these high-profile individuals but when celebrities die,a sense of grief often resonates.
Most articles on the death of Mikhail Gorbachev dwell on the political failure of his reform project. Yet Russia’s economic failures in the aftermath were spectacular,and helped pave the way for Putinism.
The many Western heads of state will also be absent,kept away by the chasm in east-west relations that has been opened up by the invasion of Ukraine.
None of us on that train in the winter of 1988 could have imagined it,but we were travelling,inspired by Gorbachev,towards an end to the 20th century as we had known it.
At least six other Russian businessmen,most with ties to the energy industry,have died suddenly in unclear circumstances in the past few months.
One of the great figures of the past 50 years,he oversaw the collapse of the Soviet Union and helped end the Cold War and the threat of nuclear war.
A towering figure beyond his own country,he was less fondly regarded inside Russia after the breakup of the Soviet Union.
Mikhail Gorbachev was a different kind of Russian leader – one with whom Western leaders could do business.
The ad featured the last leader of the Soviet Union sitting down at a Moscow outlet of Pizza Hut with his granddaughter to enjoy one of the largest icons of capitalism - an American fast food chain.
The Russian helped end the Cold War without bloodshed but failed to prevent the collapse of the Soviet Union.
While Biden and Xi have berated each other on the world stage,their climate envoys have been working behind the scenes towards common goals.