Russia's Mikhail Kalashnikov invented the deadly AK-47 rifle, but a 2013 letter to church just before his death revealed his deepest regret: 'My spiritual pain is unbearable'

An assault rifle developed by a Russian lieutenant general and military inventor became one of the most popular and feared firearms in the world. Yet before his death, Mikhail Kalashnikov wrote an emotional letter to the Orthodox Church, expressing his agitation that his invention was responsible for the deaths of so many people. In 2012, he admitted, "My spiritual pain is unbearable,” he wrote to Patriarch Kirill in May 2012.

The rifle which he created in 1947 was mainly to protect Russia’s borders. As he grew older, Kalashnikov explained, he found himself increasingly preoccupied with this question, constantly wondering why God had created humans with destructive tendencies such as jealousy, avarice and hostility. The letter was written on his personal stationery and bore a shaky signature identifying him as Mikhail Kalashnikov, a humble servant of God and the designer of the famous rifle.

By 2014, more than 100 million Kalashnikov rifles had been made, since it was invented in Soviet Russia in 1949. This rifle quickly became very popular, as it was easy and cheap to make, as per NPR, making it a great choice not just for soldiers but also for terrorists.


According to the BBC, although Kalashnikov was honoured with state honoured such as the Order of Lenin and the Hero of Socialist Labour, he made very little money from his gun.

About Kalashnikov

Mikhail Kalashnikov was born in the village of Kurya, situated in what is now the Altai Krai of Russia. He was the seventeenth of the 19 offspring of peasant parents, Aleksandra Frolovna Kaverina Kalashnikov and Timofey Aleksandrovich Kalashnikov. In his early years, he encountered numerous health issues and nearly lost his life at the age of six.

Kalashnikov showed a strong fascination with various kinds of machinery from a young age. Nonetheless, he also possessed a creative inclination and took pleasure in composing poetry, fostering dreams of becoming a poet. Throughout his life, he wrote six books and kept writing poems consistently.

In 1930, his father and many relatives lost their possessions due to confiscation. The authorities later expelled them, labelling them kulaks, to the village of Nizhnyaya Mokhovaya in Russia's Tomsk Oblast.

In 1938, he was conscripted by the Red Army, and due to his engineering skills, he started his career as a tank mechanic and later as a tank commander.

The AK 47 (short for Avtomat Kalashnikova model 1947) eventually went on to sell 100 million by 2009.

Kalashnikov passed away in 2013. He was 94.

According to AFP news, Kalashnikov’s manufacturing company was valued at 1.5 billion rubles ($26.39 million) in 2018.