Ex-Soviet leader Gorbachev denies rumour of his death after Twitter hacks

The last Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev has been forced to deny rumours of his death after hackers planted a false report on Twitter accounts of a state-run news agency.

“I’m alive and well,” Mr Gorbachev told the website of Novaya Gazeta newspaper late on Wednesday, using a blanked-out Russian expletive to describe his ill-wishers who he said were “hoping in vain”.