While we take down some monuments, the Russians erect one:
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The monument is paired with another sculpture, of the dragon-slaying Archangel Michael astride a globe that includes a decorative relief with Kalashnikov rifle parts and an inscription attributed to General Kalashnikov: "I created a weapon to defend the Fatherland."
Yelena Kalashnikova, the gunmaker's daughter, told reporters after the ceremony that her father "always said that the designer is not to blame that his weapon is used, politicians are to blame" and that weapons should "always be under secure lock and key and only in the army."
He was not very proud, she said, when he was told that his weapon was "wandering around the world," but he was pleased to be praised by Americans for his design.
"He was very proud when he was recognized and when he came to America and all weapons makers there gave credit to him," she said.
An honor guard in czarist uniform participated in the ceremony and wreaths with official ribbons and bouquets of red carnations and roses were piled at the base of the monument as friends and colleagues paid their respects.
General Kalashnikov was born in Siberia to a family that suffered from collectivization under Stalin, but he always professed staunch allegiance to Soviet values.
On Tuesday, a group of men who had worked in the Soviet defense industry lingered as the ceremony wound down and happily discussed him, stressing that he was "a humble Soviet person" who thought first and foremost of protecting his homeland.
The monument, imposing as it is, should not be seen as threatening, they said.
"Look at how he's holding the automatic, he's holding it like a toy," said Vyacheslav Sokolov, 68, a former weapons designer in Moscow who met General Kalashnikov in 1981 in Izhevsk. "He's not taking aim. He's not even pulling the trigger."
struggles to complete his SISI truck force.
