IZHEVSK, Udmurtia -- President Boris Yeltsin awarded one of Russia's top medals to Mikhail Kalashnikov on Thursday, his 75th birthday, to honor him for inventing the AK-47 assault rifle used by insurgents worldwide.
Yeltsin traveled to Izhevsk, the capital of Russia's Udmurtia republic, to make the award personally. He promoted Kalashnikov from retired colonel to the ceremonial rank of major general.
"Russia is proud of you," Yeltsin said, hanging the new For Services to the Homeland order around Kalashnikov's neck at ceremonies in a theater.
"I continue to work and I will show that I am worthy of the medal," Kalashnikov said to applause from a large audience.
The AK-47, remarkable for its durability, ease of use and the fact that it seldom jams, has armed generations of guerrillas since it went into production in Izhevsk in 1949.
But Kalashnikov, who was a 23-year-old senior sergeant when he invented the rifle while recovering from a war wound, has earned little from his invention.
Yeltsin said 70 million AK-47s and its derivatives were now in the hands of armed forces in 55 countries and suggested the state should help Kalashnikov patent the weapon.
"Although more than 55 countries use the Kalashnikov rifle, and many countries produce it, they do not pay money for this," Yeltsin said.
A man who can claim all this as his progeny might feel entitled to sit back and relax, but not Kalashnikov.
He has just finished a new hunting rifle and working on a new shotgun. His six-shooter, the Bizon 1 gas pistol, is already in production.
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