The son of the man who invented one of the world’s most well-known firearms, the AK-47 assault rifle, has died at the age of 75.
Viktor Kalashnikov died on March 27, Izhevsk State Technical University in Russia’s region of Udmurtia announced on March 28. It did not disclose the cause of death.
Viktor Kalashnikov had worked for years at the university alongside his father, Mikhail Kalashnikov, the legendary designer of the AK-47 assault rifle who died in December 2013 at the age of 94.
After Mikhail Kalashnikov's death, Russian media published a letter he penned to the head of the Russian Orthodox Church saying he felt personally responsible for those killed by the assault rifle he had invented.
In September, Moscow authorities unveiled a monument to Mikhail Kalashnikov on the Garden Ring road in Moscow, a key highway encircling the Russian capital.
There are an estimated 100 million AK-47s in circulation.
