Russia planned to assassinate the CEO of the German company Rheinmetall – CNN
Russia planned to assassinate Armin Papperger, who is the CEO of the German defense company Rheinmetall, which supplies weapons to Ukraine.
However, the US intelligence services and Germany prevented this.
This was reported by CNN, citing five American and Western officials familiar with the case.
The sources said that earlier this year, US intelligence learned that the Russian government was planning to assassinate Armin Papperger and passed the information to German colleagues, who took care of the CEO’s safety.
According to these sources, the assassination attempt was one of a series of Russian plans to assassinate the heads of defense companies across Europe that supply weapons and ammunition to Ukraine. It is noted that the plan to assassinate Rheinmetall’s CEO was the most prepared.
Papperger was an obvious target for the Russians, as Rheinmetall is the largest and most successful German manufacturer and supplier of 155mm artillery ammunition, which is very much needed by the Ukrainian army.
Rheinmetall is also set to open an armored vehicle plant in Ukraine in the near future, which, according to one source familiar with the intelligence, is a concern for Russia.
So when the Americans learned about it, they informed Germany, whose security services were able to protect Papperger and thwart the Russians’ plans.
A senior German official confirmed that Berlin had been warned by the United States about the plot.
The U.S. National Security Council refused to comment on the existence of the Russian conspiracy and Germany’s warning.
However, council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson noted that “Russia’s intensified disruptive campaign is something we take extremely seriously and have been paying particular attention to over the past few months.”
She emphasized that Russia’s actions will not prevent NATO members from continuing to support Ukraine.
