A boy holds his Kalashnikov rifle on the streets of the Iraqi city of Ramadi on January 6. |
The
legendary designer of the AK-47 assault rifle, Mikhail Kalashnikov, who died
last month at the age of 94, had worried about whether he was responsible for
the deaths caused by the namesake gun he invented.
Russia's
"Izvestia" newspaper reported on January 13 that Kalashnikov had
written a letter to the head of the Russian Orthodox Church eight months before
his death to express fears he was personally responsible for those his
invention had killed.
There are
an estimated 100 million AK-47s in circulation.
Mikhail Timofeyevich Kalashnikov in a 2013 photo |
Aleksandr
Volkov, a spokesman for Patriarch Kirill, told "Izvestia" the
patriarch had replied to Kalashnikov by saying he was "a shining example
for patriotism."
Volkov told
"Izvestia" that the church approves of weapons that serve the defense
of the fatherland.
Orthodox
priests regularly bless new weapons and include soldiers in their prayers.
Based on reporting
by "Izvestia" and dpa
Related Article:
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.