12:03pm UK, Tuesday September 21, 2004

The creator of the world's most popular rifle has launched a vodka under the same name - the kalashnikov.      

At 82% proof the drink may prove as powerful as the AK-47 assault rifle.

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Lt-Gen Kalashnakov with his vodka

The rifle was created by Lt-General Mikhail Kalashnikov in WWII after he was shot by German soldiers and has gone on to become one of the most popular guns because of its reliability and simplicity.     

It is now used by gangsters and terrorists across the world.      

Lt-General Kalashnikov said he was launching the vodka because he wanted to continue "the good name" of his gun.      

"I've always wanted to improve and expand on the good name of my weapon by doing good things," he added."We wanted that vodka to be better than anything made, up until now, in both Russia and England."      

Promoters of the vodka said it is "made from grain harvested in Russia and water drawn from Lake Ladoga north of St Petersburg" and is best drunk with friends.      

Lt-General Kalashnikov defended his gun's adoption by guerillas, saying his original intention for the gun were purely patriotic.      

"I did not create the gun for international conflicts, I created it to protect the borders of my country," he said.