US intelligence:

Automatically stored draft

The German manager Armin Papperger is apparently on Vladimir Putin's death list.

(Bild: APA/AFP/Ina FASSBENDER)

The Russian government is said to have planned to assassinate Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger at the beginning of the year. The background: the German arms manufacturer supplies weapons and military vehicles to Ukraine ...

The plot was part of a series of planned attacks on managers of European arms companies: German intelligence services foiled the plans after being informed of them by the US, CNN reported on Thursday, citing five officials in the US and Germany. Explosive: The plan to assassinate Papperger is said to have been particularly advanced.

Papperger had campaigned for more arms deliveries to Ukraine. His company, one of the largest manufacturers of ammunition in the world, operates a tank repair facility in the west of the country together with Ukraine. It was only in June that Papperger announced its intention to expand its cooperation with Ukraine and supply Lynx infantry fighting vehicles.

In the Kremlin's sights

• Since the start of the major Russian war of aggression in February 2022, the Ukrainian army has been equipped with numerous weapons from Rheinmetall.
• These include the "Leopard 1" main battle tank and "Marder" infantry fighting vehicle.
• Rheinmetall is Germany's largest arms manufacturer.

Russian threats are intended to undermine support for Ukraine
The German Office for the Protection of the Constitution and the German Ministry of the Interior declined to comment when asked, but the German government is taking the threats from the Russian regime very seriously overall, said a spokesperson for the ministry. "Our security authorities are very vigilant and act accordingly, in close cooperation with our international partners." The German government will not be intimidated by the Russian threats, he added. "We will continue to do everything we can to prevent possible threats in Germany."

The Russian threats are primarily aimed at undermining the support of Germany and its partners for Ukraine in its defense against the Russian war of aggression. "The Russian regime uses threats such as cyber attacks, disinformation, espionage and sabotage," he explained. In April, for example, German counterintelligence prevented possible acts of sabotage aimed at military support for Ukraine. The so-called Tiergarten murder in Berlin in 2019, which was demonstrably commissioned by Russian state agencies, also demonstrated the danger of state terrorism.

Enormous security precautions
According to information from the "Bild" newspaper, a patrol car with several police officers equipped with submachine guns has been parked outside Rheinmetall's headquarters in Düsseldorf almost every day for months. In addition, Papperger is said to have had personal protection for months and to be guarded around the clock.

It was only in April that unknown persons carried out an arson attack on a gazebo on Papperger's property in Lower Saxony. The investigation is ongoing and it is also being examined whether a letter of confession from left-wing extremists is authentic.