Rifle Designer Mikhail Kalashnikov Dead at 94

Rifle Designer Mikhail Kalashnikov Dead at 94

(AP) Rifle designer Mikhail Kalashnikov dead at 94
MOSCOW
Mikhail Kalashnikov, whose work as a weapons designer for the Soviet Union is immortalized in the name of the world’s most popular firearm, has died at the age of 94.

The AK-47 _ “Avtomat Kalashnikov” and the year it went into production _ is favored by guerrillas, terrorists and the soldiers of many armies. An estimated 100 million guns are spread worldwide.

He died Monday in a hospital in Izhevsk, the capital of the Udmurtia republic where he lived, said Viktor Chulkov, a spokesman for the republic’s president.

Kalashnikov often said he felt personally untroubled by his contribution to bloodshed.

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