Guards of honour stand next to a monument to Mikhail Kalashnikov, the Russian designer of the AK-47 assault rifle, during its opening ceremony in Moscow, Russia Sept 19, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]

MOSCOW - Russia on Tuesday unveiled a statue of Mikhail Kalashnikov, inventor of the AK-47 assault rifle that became by some estimates the most lethal weapon ever made and the best known Russian brand abroad.

Perched atop a pedestal in a tiny square on Moscow's busy Garden Ring thoroughfare, the statue of Kalashnikov, who died in 2013, has him dressed in a bomber jacket and clutching an AK-47 in both hands.

"I created a weapon for the defence of my fatherland," runs a Kalashnikov quote hewn on the pedestal. At the unveiling ceremony, a Kremlin guard of honour stood to attention as Russia's national anthem played.

"This weapon is Russia's defence. It's one of Russia's symbols. Alas, for life to continue, for lovely children to grow up, for beautiful women in Russia, there must be a weapon," the monument's sculptor, Salavat Shcherbakov, told reporters.

Reuters