More than a hundred Russian schoolchildren were taught to assemble AK-47s in a Moscow park on Saturday as the country this weekend celebrates the centenary of the birth of Mikhail Kalashnikov, inventor of the legendary rifle.

On Sunday, the 100th anniversary of Kalashinkov’s birth is to be marked by a number of events, including museum display, a biopic and patriotic lessons.

On Saturday, dozens of boys and girls, some clad in camouflage fatigues, took part in a competition that saw them play paintball and assemble mock-up Kalashnikov rifles in a park in southern Moscow.

“At least 100 people took apart the Kalashnikovs today,” Andrei Starykh, a director at the youth organization that organized the competition, Gvardia, proudly told AFP.

He said Gvardia regularly organizes similar events and Saturday’s get-together was not directly linked to Kalashnikov’s anniversary.

He insisted however that children in Russia need to know “real life” and therefore have to know how to assemble the celebrated weapon.

“How can one not know?” asked instructor Roman Kuzmin.

Read more: AFP