Kalashnikov

Mikhail Kalashnikov in his final days wrote to the head of Russia's Orthodox church shortly before his death, stating he was afflicted with spiritual torment. Kalashnikov, who died 23 December, 2014 aged 94, told Patriarch Kirill he felt responsible for the millions of deaths caused by his revolutionary assault rifle. He wrote... "My spiritual pain is unbearable. I keep asking the same insoluble question. If my rifle deprived people of life then can it be that I as a Christian and an orthodox believer, was to blame for their deaths?"

Michail Kalashnikov could not meet his brother Victor as a prisoner on the train as he was freed long before the war.

Referenced in Evening Urgant: Yury Borisov/Netta (2020)