Mikhail Kalashnikov got a fairly raw deal out of Communism. The assault rifle he designed while lying wounded in hospital at the end of the Second World War became a Twentieth Century icon. His name is the world's best-known brand (think about it - there may be Kalahari bushmen who havent heard of Coca Cola, but odds are they've heard of Kalashnikov). According to Jane's Defense Weekly, up to 100 million Kalashnikovs of various

types have been produced since the gun went into production in 1947, largely thanks to the Soviet habit of giving friendly foreign allies the technology to produce the weapons free of charge. But Kalashnikov himself, who will be 90 this year, lives in a modest apartment in the Volga city of Izhevsk. He hasn't received a penny of royalties on his famous invention - though he is a Lieutenant-General and boasts a chestful of medals.

Now, the Russian state is trying to do its best to redress that injustice - if not in the interests of the AK-47's inventor, then at least in the interests of his country. First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov announced today