The creator of the infamous AK-47, Mikhail Kalashnikov, has died at the age of 94 on Monday.
Kalashnikov passed away while in a Izhevsk hospital, which was announced by the Udmurtia republic's president's spokesman Viktor Chulkov, according to The Associated Press.
The Avtomat Kalashnikov, or AK-47, was first introduced in 1947 and has since gone on to be the favored assault rifle for terrorists and resistance fighters all over the world.
He once had hoped to design farming equipment, but ended up designing the well-known assault rifle that bears his name. Kalashnikov said in 2007 of the weapon, "I sleep well. It's the politicians who are to blame for failing to come to an agreement and resorting to violence."
The Independent reports he also said, "I invented it for the protection of the Motherland. I have no regrets and bear no responsibility for how politicians have used it."
Kalashnikov has said he is disappointed that the weapon is often used by terrorists and noted he wished he had invented something else.
The tank mechanic was awarded the Stalin Prize First Class as well as the Hero of Socialist Labour and three Orders of Lenin during his lifetime.
image: Wikimedia Commons