Russia’s legendary rifle designer Mikhail Kalashnikov checked out of hospital on Saturday after spending nearly a week in an intensive care unit with swelling and general fatigue.
The 93-year-old father of the AK-47 had been under the care of doctors in the central Russian city of Izhevsk — home to the czarist-era plant that makes Russia’s most famous weapon.
“He checked out today at 1pm,” Interfax quoted the center’s chief doctor Sergei Ryashchikov as saying. “I just spoke to him — he is quite sprightly. His eyes are shining bright.”
Photo: AFP
Ryashchikov said Kalashnikov underwent a scheduled checkup, but his aide had earlier said that he had been suffering from what appeared to be the side effects of a lingering heart condition.
Kalashnikov designed his famous rifles — staples of armies across the world for the past half century — at Izhevsk’s Izmash factory and lives in the region to this day.
The 205-year-old plant remains one of the main producers of Russian weapons and is treasured as a national icon.
However, Izmash has also suffered from dwindling demand and a failure to make up for this with foreign orders — a problem plaguing many specialised post-Soviet industries.
Popular legend states that Kalashnikov began designing weapons after having trouble with the rifles the Soviet Red Army was using during World War II.
He is the 17th child of a family that lived in a tiny village high in the Altai Mountains near Russia’s remote border with Mongolia.
The Burmese junta has said that detained former leader Aung San Suu Kyi is “in good health,” a day after her son said he has received little information about the 80-year-old’s condition and fears she could die without him knowing. In an interview in Tokyo earlier this week, Kim Aris said he had not heard from his mother in years and believes she is being held incommunicado in the capital, Naypyidaw. Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, was detained after a 2021 military coup that ousted her elected civilian government and sparked a civil war. She is serving a
REVENGE: Trump said he had the support of the Syrian government for the strikes, which took place in response to an Islamic State attack on US soldiers last week The US launched large-scale airstrikes on more than 70 targets across Syria, the Pentagon said on Friday, fulfilling US President Donald Trump’s vow to strike back after the killing of two US soldiers. “This is not the beginning of a war — it is a declaration of vengeance,” US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth wrote on social media. “Today, we hunted and we killed our enemies. Lots of them. And we will continue.” The US Central Command said that fighter jets, attack helicopters and artillery targeted ISIS infrastructure and weapon sites. “All terrorists who are evil enough to attack Americans are hereby warned
Seven wild Asiatic elephants were killed and a calf was injured when a high-speed passenger train collided with a herd crossing the tracks in India’s northeastern state of Assam early yesterday, local authorities said. The train driver spotted the herd of about 100 elephants and used the emergency brakes, but the train still hit some of the animals, Indian Railways spokesman Kapinjal Kishore Sharma told reporters. Five train coaches and the engine derailed following the impact, but there were no human casualties, Sharma said. Veterinarians carried out autopsies on the dead elephants, which were to be buried later in the day. The accident site
RUSHED: The US pushed for the October deal to be ready for a ceremony with Trump, but sometimes it takes time to create an agreement that can hold, a Thai official said Defense officials from Thailand and Cambodia are to meet tomorrow to discuss the possibility of resuming a ceasefire between the two countries, Thailand’s top diplomat said yesterday, as border fighting entered a third week. A ceasefire agreement in October was rushed to ensure it could be witnessed by US President Donald Trump and lacked sufficient details to ensure the deal to end the armed conflict would hold, Thai Minister of Foreign Affairs Sihasak Phuangketkeow said after an ASEAN foreign ministers’ meeting in Kuala Lumpur. The two countries agreed to hold talks using their General Border Committee, an established bilateral mechanism, with Thailand
RSS