Mikhail Gorbachev has attacked Vladimir Putin for rolling back democracy in Russia and failing to fight corruption.

In an interview with The Times, published today, he criticised Mr Putin over Russia’s failure to convict the killers of prominent Kremlin critics such as the journalist Anna Politkovskaya and the dissident spy Alexander Litvinenko.

Mr Gorbachev accused Europe and America of a failure to understand Russia since he started his glasnost and perestroika reforms of the Soviet Union almost a quarter of a century ago. He said that the West seemed more interesting in keeping Russia “on its knees”.

He had warm words for Baroness Thatcher, saying that she was the Prime Minister he most admired. He compared President Obama’s efforts to revive the US after the financial crash to his reforms of Soviet society.

Mr Gorbachev spoke movingly of his love for his late wife, Raisa, and the pain that she felt at being misunderstood by a Soviet public suspicious of a Western-style First Lady.While professing support for Mr Putin as Russia’s most popular political leader, Mr Gorbachev said that he “very openly and directly” criticised the failings of the former President who is now Prime Minister.

“I’ve been saying for some time that the election system needs to be changed. I have also been saying that there’s been a lot of talk about fighting corruption but there is no real fight against corruption,” he said.

“We have seen these terrible tragedies when journalists have been killed...some of the highest profile crimes have not been solved. And I say that I doubt that everything possible has been done to solve those crimes.”

Mr Gorbachev expressed admiration for President Obama as the champion of an American “perestroika” (rebuilding) and compared his efforts to revive the United States after the financial crash to his own reforms of Soviet society. He described the economic crisis as a consequence of Western triumphalism over winning the Cold War.

“You thought that you did not need any changes because everything was going so well for the West. But after the euphoria will come disappointment and you’re already seeing that it was a mistake to glory in that victory,” he said.

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