Moscow (AFP) - Mikhail
Kalashnikov, designer of the legendary AK-47 assault rifle, turned to
the head of the Russian Orthodox Church shortly before his death to
express fears he was personally guilty for those it killed.
Kalashnikov, who
died in December at the age of 94, in April wrote a lengthy emotional
letter to Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill, Izvestia, a
pro-Kremlin daily, reported on Monday.
"My
spiritual pain is unbearable. I keep having the same unsolved question:
if my rifle took away people's lives, then can it be that
I... am guilty for people's deaths, even if they were enemies?" he asked.
I... am guilty for people's deaths, even if they were enemies?" he asked.
The
typed letter on Kalashnikov's personal writing paper, reproduced by
Izvestia, is signed with a wavering hand by the man who describes
himself as "a slave of God, the designer Mikhail Kalashnikov."
Kalashnikov,
whose funeral was attended by President Vladimir Putin, came up with
the durable and simple rifle design after experiencing the Red Army's
dire lack of weapons during World War II.
Now
the AK-47 is widely manufactured unlicenced around the world and has
become a visual hallmark of armed insurgent movements, including those
using child soldiers.
Kalashnikov wrote that he first went into a church at the age of 91 and was later baptised.
The
Patriarch's press secretary, Alexander Volkov, told Izvestia that the
Russian Church leader received the letter and wrote a personal reply.
"The
Church has a very definite position: when weapons serve to protect the
Fatherland, the Church supports both its creators and the soldiers who
use it," Volkov said.
"He designed this rifle to defend his country, not so terrorists could use it in Saudi Arabia."
The
Russian Orthodox Church has sought to consolidate its new-found
strength after the Soviet era by building up close ties with state
agencies and powerful officials.
When
Kalashnikov was feted by the Soviet authorities, it would have been
unthinkable for him to have declared himself anything else than an
atheist.
His daughter, Yelena,
told Izvestia: "Of course you can't say he went to services or lived
strictly according to the commandments. You have to understand his
generation."
