Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Kalashnikov designed the AK-47 after being wounded fighting for the Red Army 
 
 The inventor of the Kalashnikov assault rifle apparently wrote to the head of the Russian Orthodox Church before he died expressing fears he was morally responsible for the people it killed. 
 
 Mikhail Kalashnikov, who died last month aged 94, wrote a long emotional letter to Patriarch Kirill in May 2012, church officials say. 
 
 He said he was suffering "spiritual pain" over the many deaths it caused. 
 
 Kalashnikov had previously refused to accept responsibility for those killed. 
 
 'Devilish desires' 
 
 Analysis The letter published by Izvestia provides a fascinating insight into the mind of the man who created Russia's most famous weapon. Mikhail Kalashnikov spent his career designing and perfecting assault rifles. More than 100 million Kalashnikovs have been sold worldwide. The gun brought Kalashnikov fame and a string of awards. But his letter to the Patriarch suggests that, towards the end of his life, Kalashnikov felt a degree of guilt - or "spiritual pain" as he puts it - for having invented a killing machine. It's unclear, though, how much of this he wrote himself. Izvestia quotes Kalashnikov's daughter, Elena, as saying she believes a priest helped her father compose the letter. 
 
 But in a letter, published in Russia's pro-Kremlin newspaper Izvestia, he wrote: "My spiritual pain is unbearable. 
 
 "I keep having the same unsolved question: if my rifle claimed people's lives, then can it be that I... a Christian and an Orthodox believer, was to blame for their deaths?" he asked. 
 
 "The longer I live," he continued, "the more this question drills itself into my brain and the more I wonder why the Lord allowed man to have the devilish desires of envy, greed and aggression". 
 
 The letter is typed on Kalashnikov's personal writing paper, and is signed with a wavering hand by the man who describes himself as "a slave of God, the designer Mikhail Kalashnikov". 
 
 The Kalashnikov, or AK-47, is one of the world's most familiar and widely used weapons. 
 
 Its comparative simplicity made it cheap to manufacture, as well as reliable and easy to maintain. 
 
 It is thought that more than 100 million Kalashnikov rifles have been sold worldwide. 
 
 Kalashnikov refused to accept responsibility for the many people killed by his weapon, blaming the policies of other countries that acquired it. 
 
 Image copyright Reuters Image caption Russian President Vladimir Putin attended Kalashnikov's funeral in December 
 
 However, pride in his invention was tempered with sadness at its use by criminals and child soldiers. 
 
 "It is painful for me to see when criminal elements of all kinds fire from my weapon," Kalashnikov said in 2008. 
 
 He designed this rifle to defend his country, not so terrorists could use it in Saudi Arabia Cyril Alexander Volkov, Press secretary for Russian Patriarch Kirill 
 
 Defend his country 
 
 In his letter to Patriarch Kirill, Kalashnikov said that he first went into a church at the age of 91 and was later baptised. 
 
 The BBC's Steve Rosenberg in Moscow says it is unclear how much of it he wrote himself. Izvestia quotes Kalashnikov's daughter, Elena, as saying she believes a priest helped her father compose the letter. 
 
 The press secretary for the Russian Patriarch, Cyril Alexander Volkov, told the paper the religious leader had received Kalashnikov's letter and had written a 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," Mr Volkov was quoted as saying. 
 
 "He designed this rifle to defend his country, not so terrorists could use it in Saudi Arabia." 
 
 Kalashnikov received many Russian state honours, including the Order of Lenin and the Hero of Socialist Labour, but made little money from his gun. 
 
 He died on 23 December after being admitted to hospital a month earlier with internal bleeding. ||||| In this Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2009 file photo Mikhail Kalashnikov, who invented the AK-47 assault rifle, attends festivities to celebrate his 90th birthday at the Kremlin in Moscow. (AP Photo/Natalia Kolesnikova, Pool, file) 
 
 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. 
 
 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." ||||| This article is over 1 year old 
 
 Russian creator of the AK-47, used to kill an estimated 250,000 people a year, celebrated in controversial ceremony 
 
 A statue of Mikhail Kalashnikov, the inventor of the AK-47 assault rifle, has been unveiled in central Moscow in a controversial ceremony that merged military pomp with religious ritual. 
 
 The nine-metre (30ft) monument depicts Kalashnikov clutching his eponymous automatic weapon. Tuesday’s event was attended by high-ranking Russian officials including Vladimir Medinsky, the culture minister, and Petr Biryukov, Moscow’s deputy mayor. 
 
 “This is Russia’s cultural brand,” said Medinsky, before a Russian Orthodox priest blessed the statue. 
 
 “He created this weapon to defend his motherland,” said Father Konstantin, shrugging off suggestions that it was inappropriate to sprinkle holy water on a statue of a weapons designer. Some members of the crowd crossed themselves as the priest blessed the monument. 
 
 A guard of honour from the Russian defence ministry stood to attention throughout the ceremony, which also featured second world war-era military songs. 
 
 Facebook Twitter Pinterest Statue of Mikhail Kalashnikov in unveiled in Moscow. Photograph: TASS/Barcroft Images 
 
 “Our weapon is a holy weapon,’ Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, the former spokesman for the Russian Orthodox Church, wrote on Facebook. 
 
 Kalashnikov, a tank commander, created the AK-47 after hearing Soviet soldiers complain about the quality of their weapons. The first model was produced in 1947, earning Kalashnikov the Stalin prize and the Order of the Red Star. 
 
 Today, there are reported to be more than 100m Kalashnikov rifles in use worldwide. The weapon, which is favoured by both armies and militants, is said to be responsible for 250,000 deaths annually. An AK-47 appears on the flags of Mozambique and Hezbollah, as well as on the coats of arms of Zimbabwe and East Timor. 
 
 Why has the AK-47 become the jihadi terrorist weapon of choice? Read more 
 
 The unveiling of the statue in the central Garden Ring neighbourhood took place despite the objections of some Muscovites, including nearby residents. A protester was detained by police as he attempted to unfurl a banner that read “a creator of weapons is a creator of death”. 
 
 Facebook Twitter Pinterest A man is detained by police as he holds a sign reading ‘a creator of weapons is a creator of death’. Photograph: Sergei Karpukhin/Reuters 
 
 The statue of Kalashnikov, “in one of the busiest and commonly used streets in the city, reaffirms the image of Russia as a militaristic and neo-imperialistic country that feels it is surrounded by enemies,” said Dmitry Shabelnikov, a lawyer who lives in the area. 
 
 “I’m not, in principle, against a statue of Kalashnikov. But it should not be erected here, now, and in this shape.” 
 
 A second sculpture behind the Kalashnikov monument depicts the Archangel Mikhail slaying a dragon with a spear. Salavat Shcherbakov, the artist responsible for both works, said the spear symbolises an AK-47. 
 
 “This represents the victory of good over the forces of evil,” said Shcherbakov, who also created a controversial 17-metre statue of Prince Vladimir the Great that was erected opposite the Kremlin in November.
– In our own obituary of AK-47 inventor Mikhail Kalashnikov last month, we included this quote: The rifle was invented "for the protection of the Motherland," he said. "I have no regrets and bear no responsibility for how politicians have used it." It turns out "no regrets" might not have exactly been true. The AFP picks up a report from Russia's Izvestia that Kalashnikov penned a letter to the head of the Russian Orthodox Church nine months before his December death in which he wrote of "unbearable ... spiritual pain" and asked about his culpability. It contains this line: "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?" AFP notes that Izvestia ran a copy of the letter, which is typed on Kalashnikov's personal stationery and signed "with a wavering hand." A rep for Patriarch Kirill confirms that the letter was sent, and says the church leader wrote a reply—one that very may well have calmed his fears. Says the rep, "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." But the BBC notes that it's not clear whether every word came from Kalashnikov: Izvestia reports that his daughter believes a priest helped him write the letter.