 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. 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. 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 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." 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. 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. 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 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."
– 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.