According to multiple sources, Mikhail Kalashnikov – the famed inventor of the AK-47 assault rifle – died today. He was reported to have been admitted for medical treatment in November due to internal bleeding.
Mikhail Kalashnikov was born on November 10, 1919 into a Russian peasant family in the village of Kurya, Altai Territory. He was one of 18 children, of whom only 6 survived. He served the Red Army starting in 1938, where his design skills were used to improve the arms and equipment used by Soviet Tank regiments. He began designing the AK-47 after he was wounded in October 1941, when the tank he commanded was struck by a German shell.
“I created a weapon to defend the borders of my motherland. It’s not my fault that it’s being used where it shouldn’t be. The politicians are more to blame for this.”
“I’m proud of my invention, but I’m sad that it is used by terrorists. I would prefer to have invented a machine that people could use and that would help farmers with their work – for example a lawn mower.”
Approximately 100 million Kalashnikov family rifles have been produced, licensed and unlicensed copies of the AK-47, AKM, and AK-74 and their variants.
He was 94 years old.
Source: www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-19870688
