10 October 2017. “Charlie” Chaplin on M T Kalashnikov and on “Christian Pacifism”

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We dedicate a monument to Lieutenant-General M T Kalashnikov (a true Christian) tomorrow. Although he had some moral misgivings about his work’s purpose, the Church dispelled these doubts. Our weapons are blessed, not by chance does the Lord Himself bless those who bear them… as the Church says in its ritual, “for the security of and to intercede for Christ’s truth”. Once again, I’d especially point up to supporters of “Christian pacifism” that true Christianity has nothing to do with such a notion, and, in fact, opposes it.

18 September 2017

Archpriest V A Chaplin

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Kalashnikov Asked for Absolution in Regards to Deaths Caused by the AK Rifle in Letter to Patriarch Kirill

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On Monday, Izvestia reported that Mikhail Kalashnikov, the late designer of the AK-47 assault rifle, said in a letter to Patriarch Kirill Gundyaev that he felt sorry that the weapon that he created killed millions of people, saying, “My spiritual pain is unbearable. There’s one insoluble matter… since my rifle killed people, am I… an Orthodox Christian… responsible for these deaths, even if they were enemies?”

The AK-47, designed in 1947, became the world’s most popular assault rifle, used by governments, rebels, terrorists, and civilians. According to the World Bank, out of the 500 million total firearms available worldwide, 100 million are from the Kalashnikov family, and 75 million are AK-47s. Another question that deeply troubled Kalashnikov was the USSR’s military failure in 1941, during the VOV, when he was a tank commander. He said, “My spiritual wound of 1941 haunts me day and night. Why, living in such a great power with a massive defence industry and a strong gun design school, couldn’t I and my fellow soldiers defend ourselves?” Commenting on the Cold War, Kalashnikov, who died in December, said that he’d considered Americans “friends”, despite tense relations between the two countries.

Some commentators questioned the letter’s authenticity, drawing parallels with a message allegedly written by exiled oligarch Boris Berezovsky to President Vladimir Putin before his death last March, which some believe a fake. However, Kirill’s spokesman Aleksandr Volkov confirmed that Patriarch Kirill received the letter, where the gun designer praised him, and wrote a reply, thanking Kalashnikov for his “patriotism”. He added that the letter was “very relevant amidst attacks against the Church“. In recent years, the Church and Patriarch Kirill came under fire for alleged corruption and close ties with the Kremlin.

14 January 2014

Oleg Sukhov

St Petersburg Times

http://www.sptimesrussia.com/index.php?action_id=2&story_id=38862

 

RIA-Novosti Presents… Russia Says Farewell to a Great Patriot and a Great Man in Izhevsk and Moscow

On the evening of 25 December, after soldiers brought his coffin to the church, about 8,000 people came to say goodbye to legendary small-arms designer Lieutenant General Mikhail Timofeyevich Kalashnikov at St Michael Cathedral in Izhevsk (Udmurt Republic).

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The honour guard consisted of cadets from the Kazan Higher Military Command School (KVVKU).

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The coffin with Kalashnikov’s body was in the centre of the church, draped with the Russian national flag, and his decorations were at its foot. 

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Services lasted until 22.00 MSK. Services continued on 26 December, the church funeral was from 10.00 to 13.00 MSK; after that, there was a secular ceremony.

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People crowded in to pay their last respects to the great man. Many waited in queue for four hours. Kalashnikov’s son Viktor Mikhailovich thanked everyone who came personally.

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Yelena Mikhailovna Kalashnikova, the daughter of the legendary small-arms designer (right) and his son Viktor Mikhailovich Kalashnikov say their farewells to their father at St Michael Cathedral in Izhevsk.

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Kalashnikov’s decorations were at the foot of the coffin.

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People came singly and in groups to bid farewell to the legendary designer, they laid down flowers and wreaths as tributes.

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Aleksandr Volkov (centre), Head of the Udmurt Republic, at the funeral services for Mikhail Kalashnikov at St Michael Cathedral in Izhevsk.

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The Moscow funeral of Mikhail Kalashnikov will be 27 December at the Federal Military Memorial Complex in Mytishchi Raion, in the Moscow Oblast suburbs. Kalashnikov’s coffin went by plane from Izhevsk to Moscow for burial on the evening of 26 December, his funeral procession passed in front of places where he lived and worked in Izhevsk.

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On Friday, the burial of legendary gunsmith Mikhail Kalashnikov took place at the Federal Military Memorial Complex in Mytishchi Raion, in the Moscow Oblast suburbs. The coffin was on a gun carriage as it went down the central alleyway of the complex.

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President Vladimir Putin sat with the Kalashnikov family at the services.

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The farewell in the main memorial hall.

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Deputy Defence Minister Army General Arkady Bakhin said at the funeral, “Today, we say goodbye to a remarkable man, a man who’s a symbol of Russia”.

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The farewell in the main memorial hall.

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The honour guard at the ceremony.

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Kalashnikov’s body lying in state in the memorial hall.

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Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu attended the ceremony.

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A military band played proper music in honour of Mikhail Timofeyevich’s memory.

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Kalashnikov’s daughter Yelena Mikhailovna said that her father devoted his life to working for the benefit of the motherland, “he couldn’t do otherwise”.

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On his last journey, volleys from his iconic AK-47 assault rifle accompanied the procession.

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Metropolitan Yuvenaly Poyarkov of Krutitsy and Kolomna (left) served the religious part of the funeral.

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Mikhail Kalashnikov was in intensive care since 17 November. Mikhail Timofeyevich died Monday 23 December 2013 in his 95th year.

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Note well that Metropolitan Yuvenaly Poyarkov served the Church end of the funeral in Moscow. Yuvenaly is second only to HH in the hierarchy at the Centre (he’s the effectual “Metropolitan of Moscow”). This shows you the stature of Mikhail Timofeyevich. The West mostly ignored his passing…

Note well that Viktor Mikhailovich thanked EVERYONE who came personally in Izhevsk… now, that’s CHRISTIAN. The well-known loudmouths here in America ought to hang their heads in shame. They have no clue about Christianity (and some of them are in the Church, sadly enough). President Putin didn’t come to the Izhevsk services… this allowed the Kalashnikov family to take centre-stage, as is right and proper. It doesn’t matter if you like President Putin or not, he’s a genuine and decent human being… unlike so many Western “leaders”.

This is the future… a creative and fruitful union of the Red and the Christian… may God grant me to see it in full flower.

For more on Kalashnikov’s death and the state memorials for him, click here

26-27 December 2013

RIA-Novosti

http://ria.ru/photolents/20131226/986540585_986459220.html

http://ria.ru/photolents/20131227/986876171_986869360.html

Famed AK-47 Inventor Kalashnikov Buried in New Military Cemetery Outside Moscow

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Editor’s Note:

Mikhail Timofeyevich was an Orthodox Christian. Light a candle in his memory at Liturgy, ask your priest to mention his name in the Proskomidi, and have Pannikhida said for him. That’s what real Christians do, and that’s what our duty is. That’s what God asks of us… not waving signs or condemning this one or that one. “Save your own soul and thousands will be saved about you“… that’s the ticket.

BMD

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The burial of Russia’s most famous small-arms designer, Mikhail Kalashnikov took place Friday at a new military cemetery outside Moscow. Mikhail Timofeyevich died Monday at the age of 94. President Vladimir Putin, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, and a host of other high-ranking officials came to pay their respects at the funeral, held with full state honours at the Federal Military Memorial Complex in Mytishchi Raion. Putin laid red roses on the coffin and offered condolences to Kalashnikov’s family members. The military paid a fitting last tribute to Kalashnikov with salvoes fired from the AK-47, the iconic assault rifle that he designed, and which brought him lasting fame. At the funeral, Yelena Kalashnikova, daughter of the famed weapons designer, said that her father dedicated his whole life to the service of the Motherland and “never thought of anything else”. Initial plans called for Kalashnikov’s burial to take place in his hometown of Izhevsk, the capital of the Udmurt Republic. However, the Russian leadership decided that the burial of a man who made such a significant contribution to the country’s defence and who held the title of Hero of Russia, amongst other honours, should be in a more prominent place. Over 60,000 people paid their last respects to Kalashnikov in two days of mourning in Izhevsk before the taking of his coffin to Moscow by plane on Thursday.

The Kalashnikov Group, the newly-formed small-arms holding that still manufactures derivatives of the AK-47, said that it plans to turn Kalashnikov’s office into a small museum and to set up an award bearing his name to honour its best branches and employees. Already, Izhevsk has a dedicated Kalashnikov museum, opened in 2004, that includes a range where visitors can fire air gun copies of AK series weapons on a range. An estimated 100 million AK-47s were built worldwide since it went into mass production in February 1947. In at least 55 countries, armed forces, guerilla groups, terrorists, and even common thugs still favour the reliable and easy-to-use assault rifle. Thirty countries, including Bulgaria, China, Egypt, Finland, India, Israel, the Netherlands, Sweden, and South Africa, make derivatives of the AK-47, which has a vodka and even a rap song named after it.

27 December 2013

RIA-Novosti

http://en.ria.ru/russia/20131227/185984477/Russia-Buries-Famed-AK-47-Inventor-Kalashnikov.html