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Deceased weapon designer Kalashnikov has no equal in the world

Russian newspapers on Tuesday publish articles devoted to Russia’s legendary weapons designer Mikhail Kalashnikov in connection with his demise

MOSCOW, December 24. /ITAR-TASS/. Russian newspapers on Tuesday publish articles devoted to Russia’s legendary weapons designer Mikhail Kalashnikov in connection with his demise. He was 94.

“The 7.62-mm assault rifle created by Kalashnikov 65 years ago, in the 1940s, was quickly adopted by the army, and its mass production was launched in Izhevsk (the capital of Russia’s Udmurtia republic). The Soviet and later Russian forces received the weapon that later became one of the symbols of the country,” the Kommersant daily writes.

According to former Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the RF Land Forces, Colonel General Eduard Vorobyov, “the Kalashnikov assault rifle made a revolution in small arms, and modernisation of this weapon was making it better every year.”

Mikhail Kalashnikov was an interesting person, a man of wide sympathies who led a simple life, Colonel General Yuri Bukreyev recalls: “He never boasted of his inventions, although it was their appearance that dramatically affected the form and tactics of warfare - every soldier in the Russian army is armed with his assault rifle.”

“He is not just a legendary, he is a genius designer who created an unparalleled automatic weapon,” RF Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin told Kommersant. “He supported my intention to create the Kalashnikov concern, and I will do everything to preserve his school.”

There are many world-famous brands of Russian weapons: MiG and Sukhoi, S-300 and T-55. But perhaps only the Gagarin brand can be matched with the Kalashnikov AK-47 automatic rifle. Not to mention the fact that neither MiGs nor S-300 are sold in U.S. arms shops. There have been and are no equals to the Kalashnikov rifle here. It has become a world weapon.

“This small weapon, created by the designer in 1947, was adopted by the Soviet Army in 1949. The AK assault rifle and its modifications are the most common small arms in the world. According to experts, up to one-fifth of the world’s total firearms belong to this type of weapons (including licensed and unlicensed copies, as well as third-party designs on the basis of AK),” writes RBK Daily.

Itar-Tass is not responsible for the material quoted in these press reviews

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