AK-47 Inventor Mikhail Kalashnikov Wrote Repentant Letter Before His Death On The Weapon That He Created

Mikhail Kalashnikov, world famous inventor, with an AK-47 assault rifle.(RIA Novosti / Vladimir Vyatkin)

'Am I Guilty?' AK-47 Maker's Near-Death Torment -- RT

In the last years of his life, Mikhail Kalashnikov, the famous Russian weapon designer, anguished over his responsibility for the millions of deaths his inventions caused, his published letter to the head of the Russian Church reveals.

In his public interviews Kalashnikov, who died last month at the age of 94, insisted that he created the AK-47 assault rifle and dozens of other firearms as a means to protect his country, and rejected responsibility for killings perpetrated by militants and terrorists using his weapons.

But, apparently, as he was approaching the end of his life doubts lingered in his mind. Kalashnikov, who found faith in his final years, shared the burden in a letter to the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, which was published on Monday by the Izvestia newspaper.

“My soul ache is unbearable and has one irresolvable question: if my rifle took lives, does it mean that I, Mikhail Kalashnikov, aged 93, a peasant woman’s son, an Orthodox Christian in faith, is guilty of those people’s deaths, even if they were enemies?” the leaked letter reads.

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More News On AK-47 Inventor Mikhail Kalashnikov Writing A Repentant Letter Before His Death On The Weapon That He Created

Kalashnikov blamed himself for deaths brought by AK-47 -- Voice of Russia
Kalashnikov Repented Over AK-47 Deaths to Patriarch, Report Says -- The Moscow Times
Kalashnikov inventor haunted by unbearable pain of dead millions -- The Guardian
Kalashnikov 'feared he was to blame' for AK-47 rifle deaths -- BBC
AK-47 creator repented killings by his invention -- Times of India/AFP
AK-47 inventor Mikhail Kalashnikov plagued by guilt: report -- Sydney Morning Herald
Kalashnikov expressed guilt over assault rifle invention in letter to Church -- The Telegraph
Too little, too late? Dying Kalashnikov felt guilt over blood spilled by AK-47 -- FOX News
Emotional letter reveals inventor of the Kalashnikov was wracked with guilt over deaths caused AK-47 -- Daily Mail
Mikhail Kalashnikov: Late AK-47 creator writes that ‘soul aches’ over invention -- Washington Times
AK-47 Inventor In Letter To Church: 'My Spiritual Pain Is Unbearable' -- Business Insider
Kalashnikov ‘remorse’ for his gun’s victims -- Irish Examiner
Mikhail Kalashnikov apparent torment over deaths caused by his AK47 rifle -- Euronews
Mikhail Kalashnikov felt 'spiritual pain' for designing the AK-47 -- The Verge

My Comment: The road to hell is paved with good intentions .... a quote that Mikhail Kalashnikov can probably relate to. After-all .... he designed the AK-47 to defend the Soviet Union .... and I am sure that he never thought that it would eventually become the weapon of choice for most of the world's armies, rebel groups, and terror organizations.