30ft statue of rifle designer Mikhail Kalashnikov unveiled in Moscow

A 30ft-high statue of Mikhail Kalashnikov, the inventor of the prolific assault rifle that bears his name, has been unveiled in Moscow.

The large monument in the centre of the Russian capital shows Kalashnikov cradling his rifle.

It was unveiled by Russian Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky, who declared that the Kalashnikov AK-47 assault rifle has become "Russia's cultural brand".

The ceremony featured a guard of honour from the Russian defence ministry throughout, as well as Second World War military songs.

A protester was detained by police as he attempted to raise a banner which said "a creator of weapons is a creator of death".

​Kalashnikov, born into a peasant family in Siberia, began designing a new rifle after being wounded in a 1941 battle against Nazi forces, and finished it in 1947.

An estimated 100 million of the guns are now spread worldwide.

Kalashnikov died in 2013 aged 94 in the city of Izhevsk where he lived.