A grim Christmas for the Soviet Union, 30 years ago

Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as president of the USSR on December 25, 1991. Series: Reagan White House Photographs

On Christmas Day, 30 years ago, Mikhail Gorbachev hung up on the hammer and sickle, metaphorically speaking.

The eighth and final leader of the Soviet Union, Mr Gorbachev resigned as president on December 25, 1991 and with that momentous event, 69 years of the Soviet Union effectively came to an end.

Axios has recounted the story of the photograph that captured the moment — and the end of an era. The Associated Press’s (AP) Liu Heung Shing took the shot. As AP’s chief photographer in Moscow, Mr Liu was warned not to take pictures during Mr Gorbachev’s speech, so he did the next best thing — taking a photo of the just-resigned president putting down his notes right at the end. He used “a slow shutter speed to capture sheets of paper moving, and reflect the fleeting moment,” Axios wrote.

So, what did moment really mean?

According to some, Mr Gorbachev’s resignation was symbolicall…