▁N iz h ny aya ▁M ok hov aya , ▁Tom sk ▁O blast . ▁In ▁his ▁youth , ▁Mik h ail ▁suffered ▁from ▁various ▁ill ness es ▁and ▁was ▁on ▁the ▁ver ge ▁of ▁death ▁at ▁age ▁six . ▁He ▁was ▁attract ed ▁to ▁all ▁kinds ▁of ▁mach in ery , ▁but ▁also ▁wrote ▁poetry , ▁dream ing ▁of ▁becoming ▁a ▁poet . ▁He ▁went ▁on ▁to ▁write ▁six ▁books ▁and ▁continued ▁to ▁write ▁poetry ▁all ▁of ▁his ▁life . ▁After ▁deport ation ▁to ▁Tom sk ▁O blast , ▁his ▁family ▁had ▁to ▁combine ▁far ming ▁with ▁hunting , ▁and ▁thus ▁Mik h ail ▁frequently ▁used ▁his ▁father ' s ▁rif le ▁in ▁his ▁te ens . ▁Kal ash nik ov ▁continued ▁hunting ▁into ▁his ▁ 9 0 s . ▁ ▁After ▁comple ting ▁sevent h ▁grade , ▁Mik h ail , ▁with ▁his ▁step father ' s ▁permission , ▁left ▁his ▁family ▁and ▁returned ▁to ▁K ury a , ▁h itch h ik ing ▁for ▁nearly ▁ 1 , 0 0 0   km . ▁In ▁K ury a ▁he ▁found ▁a ▁job ▁in ▁mechan ics ▁at ▁a ▁tra ctor ▁station ▁and ▁developed ▁a ▁passion ▁for ▁weapon ry . ▁In ▁ 1 9 3 8 , ▁he ▁was ▁cons cript ed ▁into ▁the ▁Red ▁Army . ▁Because ▁of ▁his ▁small ▁size ▁and ▁engineering ▁skills ▁he ▁was ▁assigned ▁as ▁a ▁tank ▁mechan ic , ▁and ▁later ▁became ▁a ▁tank ▁commander . ▁While ▁training , ▁he ▁made ▁his ▁first ▁invent ions , ▁which