Gorbachev in hospital after operation

In this Jan. 14, 1991 file photo, Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev says in Moscow that a local military commander ordered the use of force in the breakaway republic of Lithuania, where an assault by Soviet troops on Jan. 13, 1991 claimed 14 lives. AP

MOSCOW — A spokesman for Mikhail Gorbachev says the 85-year-old former Soviet leader is in hospital for a scheduled operation.

Vladimir Polyakov told The Associated Press that Gorbachev was taken to a hospital in Moscow on Wednesday for a “planned, insignificant surgical intervention.” He declined to give details, but said Gorbachev was eating normally and was expected to be discharged soon.

Russian media reported that Gorbachev was fitted with a pacemaker in the operation.

Gorbachev has suffered repeated health scares in recent years and in September he canceled a foreign trip on the advice of his doctors.

Since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, the former president has run a foundation for political, social and economic studies. TVJ