Ligachev died on Friday at the Central Clinical Hospital of that city, where he had been admitted, according to Alexei Sevostyanov, head of the press department of the administration of Tomsk.

The Soviet and Russian politician was the secretary of the CPSU Central Committee from 1983 to 1990, according to TASS news agency.

From 1985 to 1990, he was a member of the Political Bureau, and as secretary of the Central Committee he was in charge of the ideological sphere until 1988, becoming the second person in the leadership of the CPSU, after Mikhail Gorbachev.

Some historians consider that without Ligachev’s support, Gorbachev would have never reached power in March 1985.

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