The AK-47, the most fired rifle in history, turns 75 years old without losing its validity, as demonstrated in the current war in Ukraine, where both sides continue to use it, although it hardly officially appears in their arsenals.

“Mijail Kalashnikov was a true patriot. He invented the rifle just to defend himself from the enemy,” he told EFE Nelli, the eldest daughter of the legendary gunsmith (1919-2013) a few years ago.

The first rifle designed by Kalashnikov entered service in the Soviet Army on June 18, 1949, in the middle of the Cold War.

The gunsmith of the former Soviet Union, then a modest sergeant, was impressed by an episode during the Great Patriotic War (1941-45) in which a soldier died at the hands of the Germans because his weapon was boxed.

Although its initial objective was to create an automatic rifle that would allow the Red Army to win the war, the AK-47 never fired at the German invader.

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The first AK made its fame for its simplicity and its resistance to elements, water and sand. With only eight moving parts, it can be used by any fighter, child or adult, and can be disassembled in less than a minute.

The characteristics of the AK-47 have gone in history: 4.3 kilos of weight, 30 ammunition bullets, 800 meters of range and a firing rate of 600 shots per minute.

Since 1949, more than 100 million units of this rifle have been manufactured, according to Russian sources, which represents 15% of the total volume of light weapons in service in the world.

Although only twelve countries have a production license – China and North Korea, among them – there are many countries that manufacture it, have clandestinely transferred the technology or, openly, use their parts to design modified rifles, including Western countries.

Its popularity in certain corners of the planet was so great during the wars of liberation that the Kalashnikov, ideal for guerrilla warfare, was included in the flags and shields of several countries (Zimbabwa, Mozambique, Burkina Faso or East Timor).

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The AK-47 was adopted by armies of 55 countries, but it has rained a lot since 1949. The Kalashnikov state corporation itself, which now also manufactures assault drones, has since designed the AKM, the AK-74, the AK-15 and the AK-12, among others.

In fact, the consortium, which is under Western sanctions, signed with the Army in 2021, on the eve of the start of the Russian military campaign in Ukraine, a three-year contract for the supply of light weapons.

Last April, Kalashnikov announced the delivery to the Ministry of Defense of a batch of renewed AK-12 assault rifles, which includes a dioptric telescopic peephole and a two-way security device.

Kalashnikov emphasizes that the fighting within the framework of the so-called special military operation showed that the AK-12 should be perfected to make it “lighter”, improve its ergonomics and facilitate its use.

According to official sources, the consortium provided the Russian Armed Forces with twice as many AK-12 rifles in the first year of the war in Ukraine in 2023.

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The United States authorities also announced in April the supply to the Ukrainian army of about 5,000 AK-47 rifles from their own arsenals.

Although his last name is known all over the world, that fame caused remorse to Kalashnikov, who before dying wrote a letter to the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, since he understood that he had created “a weapon that killed people all over the world.”

“The pain I have in my soul is unbearable. An unanswered question resounds again and again: since my rifle killed so many people, is it me, Mikhail Kalashnikov, 93 years old, son of peasants, Christian and of Orthodox faith, guilty of his death, even if it is enemies?” the letter said.

In the last years of his life, Kalashnikov, who has a statue where he poses with his invention in the center of Moscow, admitted to his descendants that he was “not prepared” for the universalization of his invention as a weapon “against humanity” in the hands of terrorists

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