Last week Kalashnikov wrote an open letter addressed to the citizens, Prime Minister and President of Russia. He is very unhappy about rumors, presumably in the media, that Izhmash, the company that produces the AK and other military and sporting arms, is in trouble and will close down soon.

He attributes the rumors to foreign nations trying to undermine Russian power and goes on to encourage Russian law enforcement, who use Izhmash firearms, to punish the rumor spreaders.

I translated the letter using Google Translate (originally from the Izhmash website):

Dear Dmitry!
Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich!
Dear fellow citizens!

Today, I appeal to you all a very sad occasion. Nearly half a year stretches harassment plant Izhmash, where I worked for 60 years and I feel proud of our country.

As the country goes unknown to anyone Committee employees and veterans’ Izhmasha. ” It is far from the factory, people acting on behalf izhmashevtsev and say that the plant surviving the last few days.

Those who spread rumors about the collapse of “Izhmash” – issued wishful thinking!

I work with “Izhmashe, and I see that the plant continues to operate normally today. We are actively engaged in fulfilling the state defense order to rearm our Army and international military-technical cooperation. Our hunting weapons demand worldwide. Russian athletes win with our new weapons and new awards. Great honor for us was that the President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev, visiting “Izhmash” in February this year, called it the pride of Russian industry.

There are people who want to cross out all of this, the credibility of the “Izhmashu” in Russia and abroad, deprive him of his orders and thus an opportunity to select and further improve our weapons. They hide behind good goals, good goals but do not reach through lies.

I do not know who it is. But I think the ability to do so only those foreign nations who want to undermine the power of Russia, or banditry groups that want to gain force again, to get the plant for the production of small arms.

I appeal to all our law enforcement agencies. After all, you have to work with us, because you know that without arms “Izhmasha” Our country will not have the great power that it has become in recent years. I ask you to prevent this flow of lies and punish the guilty.

Best regards,
Mikhail Kalashnikov Timofeyevich