the inventor of the iconic forty seven assault rifle kalashnikov at the age of ninety four. steps into the media spotlight vowing to push for the release of his associates examine their cases and why they are still behind bars. and the many. members walk to freedom as part of russia's presidential amnesty and pledge to fight for the human rights of conflict. and in the first in our series on the events that shaped twenty thirteen we look at the visit to rural iraq. it will be remembered as one of . and bloodshed.

from a studio in moscow where it's just midnight this is international we can actually call the design of the world's most used assault rifle the a k forty seven has died aged ninety four he's sixty year old invention has become a cultural icon kalashnikov was acknowledged for services to his country receiving countless awards including the acclaimed. reports. i did have the privilege of meeting me personally when he was made a hero of russia at the kremlin by the president around four years ago i want he was ninety years old at the time and despite clearly having difficulties with his hearing his hands were shaking quite a lot he still made a firm impression of someone with a very sharp mind quite in gauged in his words work and quite affectionate about

his homeland and i asked him whether he'd ever expected that his invention be a k forty seven would whatever he could be so big so widespread and actually he told me that it was a great pity to him knowing that a k forty seven is often used by terrorists gangs and so on since he said his all only purpose. just to defend his homeland and not to attack anybody else this is definitely one of the more small store iconic personally i kind of people in russia and soviet union kind of russians. will feel last century and he's definitely made an impact on the wall done to the heritage that he's leaving us with definitely can't be underestimated. the man behind a weapon that many say changed the face of combat produced in over a dozen states and officially used by thirty armies it's the most popular and

reliable small arm in the world no competition a k forty seven short for off the top kalashnikov model nine hundred forty seven the year it was designed but the inspiration came a few years earlier during the war against nazi germany. this is one twenty one year old the red army tank commander mikhail kalashnikov was wounded in battle and was recovering in hospital dreaming of designing a weapon that would help throw all the invaders out and so he did his automatic rifle combines the best features of machine and submachine guns killing power lightweight derby and simplicity often during the vietnam war american soldiers took a case from dead vietnamese troops preferring kalashnikovs to their own sophisticated but unreliable and sixteen's when the u.s.s.r. collapsed the a.k. began to be sold on the cheap throughout latin america the middle east and africa where they were used by fighters in ethnic conflicts and in some countries by drug gangs and terrorists on al qaeda footage some of the london was often seen with

a kalashnikov rifle nowadays the gun is believed to be responsible for a quarter of a million deaths every year this always upsets me kalashnikov called for tougher un measures to halt the illicit distribution of small arms. like i do it weapons should and should be in the hands of those people who did. and they're a country that is to defend not to attack i designed a rifle not for international conflicts but to protect the borders of my homeland. designs different models of the gun but what unites them all is their simplicity and reliability. the assault rifle even became a cultural icon is depicted on the flag and coat of arms of several countries and organizations mikhail kalashnikov had many honors including the highest state award the golden star the hero of russia. for despite such astonishing fame and respect unbelievably he didn't make a penny from the sale of his weapons the only way he could profit from his

invention was by allowing to use his name to promote various brands watches and p three players and even vodka but without a doubt his legacy is the a k forty seven its production continues to this day and the guns reputation as the world's top infantry weapon remains unchallenged you've got this going off party. well i'm now joined by hugo to of his own a military expert live in the r.t. international studio you go to you actually met kalashnikov what was your impression of him you know about him and submission a few years ago and you see here the first impression i get from here with he is a very young man so there's no feeling that you're talking to a man so much older and so much more experienced that you hear his mind is very very eager to accept any kind of new information and he has many of speaking and his manner of dealing with his colleagues but was the most impressive and did he talk much about what he invented the positive aspects and indeed the negative

aspects and actually here the first thing that has been mentioned i think in this respect is that a k forty seven was a revolution in the way infantry fights he was the first person maybe he was a visionary who was able to understand that the combination of intermediate crush and assault rifle that's giving awesome fire power to of course the infantry man that was really of the revolution you see the experiments before him including germany in the war time period but americans for example they examined german experiments and they saw that you see that is a very that's not the future they were fair and was able to understand given his experience in the second world war if you show this of this so what was so special about it what did he create that has lost it for so long so the basic idea during the second world war there was heavy machine guns that were actually use there for . stopping large masses of infantry and they were quite small and compact

submachine guns so the idea was colossal kalashnikov was to use intermediate cartridge almost as powerful as a machine gun cartridge but give this kind of fighting device to infection and that actually revolutionized the water this is a rifle that could shoot multiple rounds so it still had the same sort of effect the machine guns are actually actually assault rifle is. having a machine gun but just lighter more compact and thus every infantry men can use it and it gave. in french especially or some firepower that's why he is. assault rifle became so popular all over the world it's easy it's highly reliable and it has quite a lot of technical innovations for example why shooting these assault rifle the guess is that escape the machine to remove all the dust so it can shoot almost in any conditions under water in dust anywhere that was one of the most important features of this assault rifle it sounds as if one couldn't develop any better

rifle these days but we are in a high tech era with a kalashnikov continued to dominate i guess that kalashnikov is going to continue to dominate for decades now russia is developing new generation of infantry arms but of those based on kalashnikov's design they have improved accuracy of the use and more players take the use better metal techniques but still the basic design is not changing and of course he invented this to defend the soviet union but of course it's been used in other ways child soldiers terrorists and ironically by the mujahedeen against the soviet soldiers in afghanistan. do you think it was quite a burden for him to bear with how it was used i know that he was many times he was out of this question you see his idea was that the inventor is not responsible for the way how his invention is used he created this device to protect his own conscious and the device has been so much successful that you see you know other

nor are the designer has been able to just briefly does he regret not making money out of this are i don't think he was a very modest person you see that. kind of engineer my grandfather also was an engineer also working in the arms industry which is life that people didn't care about tamale themselves he said protecting their nation saving the lives of their compared shirts that was the basic basic of. from documentaries about. a very very modest life or really interesting to hear your point of view of the late recently departed mikhail kalashnikov thank you very much indeed hugo military expert live here not international thank you. he emerged from prison straight into the limelight to insist he won't return to the politics or business but we can quote a kosky says he does need to pay back his debts to those still behind bars and will fight for his imprisoned comrades because all of it looks at one of the people caught a costly is vowing to defend after ten years in jail. has

now decided to do is need found freedom and some of those plans have caused a few raised eyebrows. some of my comrades remain in jail they are my fellow sufferers for example my friend platon lebedev i like super tuesday and there are still other political prisoners in russia not only those related to the u. cos case i am free now and i'm asking you to think of it as something which symbolizes that the efforts of civil society can lead to the release of some people who no one thought would be able to walk free to chew good was the head of security for his daughter called oil company you cos he's currently serving a life sentence for five counts of murder in two thousand and seven a court convicted children of ordering the shooting of blood in me a pet you call the mayor of a town in siberia bet you call four hundred clashed with you cos over his insistence that the oil giant paid taxes due to his town the court found no link

between the murders and the head of u. cos however because widow believes this was a crime that went to the top. and there was no investigation about her that portuguese involvement in my husband's death he wasn't even interrogated both myself and other people who are analyzing this have plenty of facts proving that that of course he was directly involved in the killing of my husband while on trial for the murder of pairs of legs are going with already serving twenty years in prison for the attempted murder of former holocaust good byes are all good cause dinner after quitting her post with you cos she went off to work as the head of p.r. for the mayor of moscow it was then that a bomb was placed in her moscow apartment fortunately it detonated while no one was home because the owner sees the holocaust these comments about political prisoners as self-serving but that is all. how to craft

a hostage of his own party he can't act differently now if he ever recognizes what his security forces were doing but he will automatically become responsible for what and i think now he fears that an exuberant you can may start talking about that and what the third ucas case could potentially be is a further investigation into those murders and assaults which the company security forces carried out a lot of course he has no other choice he will continue to insist people from the security department up political prisoners that are and he will pretend to be pushing for release the ideal ation being heaped upon this the holocaust years left some of those watching feeling that only half the story is being told. totally unknown in the west. is a big economic code criminal he had stolen a lot of money from the russian people and from the russian state that every kind of businessman in the best who had done the same would have all saw ended in

prison this story is i'm told in the west despite his insistence that he was a political prisoner many in russia believe had a cold ski broke the law and that was why he was said to jail peter all other r.t. berlin khodorkovsky complaint that his case was politically motivated was rejected by the european court of human rights it found no evidence that the political activities of those involved were relevant as many were neither opposition leaders nor public officials it ruled the charges were not related to political life and had a healthy core but professor mark ullman he's a historian from oxford university i spoke to him earlier he thinks that's not enough to change the perception of color in the west. the western human rights groups seem to have rather constitutes themselves. for the protection of the interests of all legal civil rights all the gods whether it's holocaust get russia to question can ukraine and so on we hear

a lot about interest in rich people but most about for instance the poor people of my role or intimidated cultural holocaust skiis living in the west now and this new serious discussion about what happened to the billions of dollars worth of assets which will laundered out to russia in the lounge in one thousand into western banks and western real estate and so on and one week he gave at his press conference in berlin yesterday on returning to russia was the implication possible suits for coverage of the assets that still are effectively his hands in the hands of his cronies in the us. for more than khodorkovsky his first public comments after his release and to get opinion and analysis on his case and surprised at the altie dot com. also free thanks to a presidential amnesty of the two remaining jailed members of the in a tourist pussy riot punk band week before their ambitions off the released suspects just ahead.

we're.

all three members of the notorious russian punk band pussy riot and now free the two remaining women were serving time for carrying out a protest on to moscow's main cathedral but were let go monday as part of president putin's prison amnesty and in the going to have been following the story. obviously they are very happy to be out of prison but they have expressed their desire to continue along the lines of working in what concerns he was rising in the country. i was very well treated many women asked for my advice and support and human rights and legal issues and it's my purpose now to protect the convicts who spoke to human

rights activists and as much as we can within the letter of the law protect their rights. there's not going to go as well said that she intends to keep a close watch on those who have remained in the penal colony where she was but first and foremost with the right members intended to meet together we know that they have spoken on the phone already. does that according to were given a two year prison sentence following this so-called punk prayer in the country's main church with them have literally months left over in their sentences but were released fallujah now mystic i mean from president putin initially. said that she didn't wish to take a part of this amnesty and leave the prison but but said she said that unfortunately those are her words she didn't have a choice so now both members are free and intending to take it upon themselves to go through with human rights situations in the country we start to look back

at the events that shaped twenty thirteen. for the people of iraq this year was the deadliest since two thousand and eight marred by deepening sectarian divide and more innocent lives being lost as a result and the bloodshed has continued today five media workers died when gunmen ambushed a t.v. station north of baghdad what at least eight troops were killed by mortar shells in the capital itself more than one thousand people have fallen victim to violence this year alone and it's estimated around one hundred twenty thousand lives have been lost in the decade since the u.s. invasion started while seeking to undermine the sharon government sunni insurgents have attacked civilian targets in different parts of the country bringing the total number of suicide bombings to four thousand the northern city of kirkuk is often caught in the crossfire lying close to al qaeda strongholds and being claimed by both the iraqi government and the autonomous kurdish authorities if you cover not

find up help people there cope with the daily violence. right at. the iraq war is supposed to be over but these pictures tell a different story chaos and confusion the aftermath of yet another deadly blast here into a kook. this one which city has been described as a fault line a symbol for the country's most intractable woes escalating violence the conflict among ethnic and religious groups and the fight over iraq's resources. getting there was our first challenge a group of kurdish soldiers had agreed to take a sin go baghdad and the kurds lay claim to your kook and are sparring over control aside from the danger those entering from the kurdish side need special permission to get past the iraqi checkpoints we inhabit. roadblocks and concrete barriers to find the new iraq checkpoints like this one are

a dominant feature of life and they are everywhere aside from the hassle they're also frequent target of attacks for us is a bleak visual reminder of the country still very much what you want. inside your group we drive quickly to avoid danger we're told to look out for black b.m.w. use apparently they've become a fever or a raucous insurgents who didn't pick the best day to come through roadside bombs exploded here earlier that morning around the same time that baghdad was glaucous point a series of deadly blasts but because it's been a flashpoint for years now and in the city center it's clear that life doesn't stop just because of the threats we're expecting empty streets but people continue to go about their business is minimal tenderness and busy families did their shopping beneath the surface there are scars today kirkuk continues to be an incredibly dangerous place that you couldn't even access the city without the help of a military escort residents here say that a toxic happen at any time in any place in fact it's not really safe to stay here

for too long so let's get inside we need car want to his. family there kurds who say they're happy that saddam is gone but their fear of political repression has been replaced by fear of the unknown and. we don't know who the enemy is when the next moment was but it's a deal he fears we've got news on that you know i do small things to feel safer like dr william hold the car lose count batwing if there's a blast at least the glass. such precautions didn't help sixty year old news he says that a decade of war has ruined everything he happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time a bomb blast went off injuring his leg for him daily life has become a painful struggle for somebody and they didn't probably hyper see what benefit did that your bring democracy can only explosions shooting and killing people should feel free to go out and come back safely where is that a job where i can leave but there's no guarantee i'll come back no it's not about

the sunni areas of differences not on fortune's it's book blackpool a lot of oil and behind us oil is the hit in the interests of a politician with horns in a political game playing with their minds he was implying it's for conflicts not of their own making the iraqis we met didn't hate their neighbors or care about who controls the oil just like they simply want the peace of mind of knowing they can go out and return to their loved ones alive you see captain of our team here. the investigative group iraq body count has been collecting data on casualties in the embattled country for years now really is one of its leading researches and she shared her thoughts with us on what the country is going through this year. what most people don't understand is that the violence in iraq is daily at the best of times in iraq three to four hundred civilians have lost their lives in the month

that was of the scrutinous and that is completely unacceptable iraq has become so fragmented and has suffered such a serious internal collapse with so many interests being. fought on is grounds internal interests of the shias the sunni is the kurds the religious fundamentalist terrorists the insurgents also externally u.s. interests rainy and interests you came trysts but this is a terrible legacy and a state that was already weak in two thousand and three has now completely corpsed ten years later how to make the situation better at the moment i cannot see a way and i don't think those parties who are behind the violence would let it get worse there are far too many competing interests there is too much struggle for power on so many sides that i cannot see it being a lot to get better. he has created a special online project on

a website which brings together detailed reports on the scale violence in iraq you can see that online on our website and for more all the big events of the year our series why twenty thirteen mathis will be running this week on our team to national well on our web site right now also a sea change beneath the waves the russian fleet welcomes its next generation nuclear submarines you can find out more about the backbone of the nation's deterrent for decades to come. also what does it take to get a residency permit in belgium hundreds of desperate afghan asylum seekers stay just sit in one town the more than the prime minister himself intervenes. to bring. with more from just about half an hour from now the meantime it is the week in sport but for our viewers in the u.k. it's no holds barred politics in. on the ground.

a summer break a time when all students rejoice and most importantly relax but in russia summer break for male students could change dramatically and involve lots of guns currently male russian citizens have to put a year into the armed forces but the ministry of defense thinks that they could make things easier by having students spend their summer breaks in the military this training would tie in with their future professions such as engineering students being put into military engineering position now the question is does your summer break belong to you or another words to the government have the right to tell you what to do and make you serve in the army even if just for three summers during your college years i think the answer of this really depends on your culture in places which haven't been invaded countless times or have a strong individual ism streak any form of conscription sounds barbaric and oppressive but if you come from a country that is less individualistic and has been attacked invaded. pretty much

every country that possibly could like russia they have a draft makes more sense i think this program could work and if i was in college i would be pumped to spend my summer vacation with some heavy artillery but this is definitely not a universal idea for all countries i don't think liberals or libertarians in america would take too kindly to it and rightly so but there's just my opinion. hello welcome to the r t sports show i'm kate partridge and i'll be bringing you twenty six action packed minutes of the latest sport from russia and around the world and here's just a taste of it. cup upset host russia win just one of their three matches in sochi as the czech republic play in the china one cup and finland the overall euro tour

with six weeks to go until the winter olympics. plus a lot of the ring the roy jones jr beat is in a better match to fight a unanimous decision to win the w.v.u. cruiserweight title here in moscow. and alling saying we look at why russia all the world's best in synchronized swimming as champions past and present close another dominant season with a spectacular end of year show. but let's start with ice hockey as host russia lost two of their three matches that the china one cup in sochi to finish third overall from four in the euro to the last tournament before the winter olympics and that's the black sea resort the red machine started well at the bolshoi einstein coming back from a goal down to beat sweden three two on thursday time bondo open for breakthrough not early in the first period russia were level within four minutes three knoxy to the no one. and it remained until the third quarter went to dino phonetic his and

russia's second but sweden quickly bounced back to make it two to go with two minutes and eleven seconds left the youngest player at the tournament nicholai played cork and grabbed the winner three to eight. but russia then lost to finland three two before also getting down to eventual champion china one cup winners the czech republic two one it was the hurry so i opened early in the final period courtesy of an alexander at the last penalty shot but within four minutes tamasha no say and usually about me maybe a nightmare for russia and their fans to warm the final score one victory from three for the host at the last event and at their home olympics venue just over six weeks to go until the winter games. so a not the best preparation for russia ahead of the olympics but the team did get a boost after the charges of domestic violence were dropped against their first

choice goaltender simeon belhomme of the colorado avalanche star was facing up to two years in jail after his model girlfriend claimed he attacked her last month but prosecutors said they had no proof beyond a reasonable doubt and the case was dismissed. while staying with ice hockey and russia's judea team are preparing for their opening game of the world championship against norway in sweden on thursday and before they headed off richard vanpool feet went to see the squad as they look to improve on last year's bronze. twelve million to christ or do it right up the western christmas tree the twenty sixth of december nice to see the start of the annual goddammit ice hockey championship says . in this region city of moment. pressure last one being three years ago in america beating canada in the final. trick of the new space time this summer don't need to

be too. doubled again to repeat that change mond's first letter feeling the reason there are some really strong teams at this tournament last year finland's didn't even qualify for the latter stages and that just shows how hard it is will be in the same group as hosts in sweden is let's whistle and are also a great side also it's going to be a really tough competition to get the word from across rosters been given a boost by return home of send him a car you'll be going to income and defensemen nikita's on both of those players are featured in the n.h.l. for the buffalo sabers the season but it had disappointing campaign was going to ring true with just three points and eighteen games to go to one goal in seven they'd been sent down to minus semi england to play in this competition golden sands the world juniors could help get a season back on five or you jim you're going to say schwarzschild first year i mean. it's hard to make it in first year after.