Etching of German rifle ground off AK-47 monument in Moscow

MOSCOW – Just days after a monument honouring AK-47 designer Mikhail Kalashnikov was unveiled in Moscow, workers have removed a part of it that showed a German weapon that many believe inspired the renowned assault rifle.

The monument features a towering statue of Kalashnikov and an adjacent sculpture of St. George fighting a dragon with an AK-47-tipped spear. Metalwork on the plinth of that statue bore etchings of guns, one of which was discovered to be of the StG44 rifle used by Nazi Germany.

News reports said the gun images were ground off on Friday.

State news agency Tass quoted Russian Culture Minister Vladimir Medinsky saying: “There’s one big plus in this — now everyone will exactly know that in their designs the AK and the German assault rifle are absolutely different firearms,”