US stops Russian plot to assassinate head of Germany’s biggest arms company

In May, German security authorities received a tip-off from a foreign intelligence service about an alleged Russian threat of an assassination attempt against President Papperger. Specifically, “a handful of individuals” They were already under surveillance for “suspicious movements,” the German magazine reported.

According to the description of the “European security circles” cited by the German magazine, it is a group of men from countries outside the former Soviet Union, “among them at least one Russian,” who would have been hired as agents in the service of Russia and who could not be arrested due to lack of information, Efe reports.

The German magazine thus completed the exclusive of the television channel according to which Russia was planning an attack against Papperger, whose company has become key to German support to Ukraine in its defense against to the Russian invasion.

The revelations of the They took the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Annalena Baerbockto react and point out in Washington during the NATO summit that these intentions constitute a sign that “the Russian president is free A hybrid war against Europe“which includes “cyberattacks, sabotage, disinformation campaigns and also attacks against people on European territory.”

Since it began Russia’s invasion of UkraineThanks to Rheinmetall products and systems, Germany has supplied a huge amount of military equipment to Volodymyr Zelensky’s country, including ammunition, howitzers and armoured vehicles such as Leopard tanks and Marder infantry fighting vehicles.

Last June, the Düsseldorf-based Papperger firm and the German Army signed a contract establishing a framework under which the German company will produce 155mm artillery ammunition worth up to 8.5 billion eurosa production that will also serve to support Ukraine in its defense against Russia, Efe recalls.

In addition, Rheinmetall is currently building an arms factory in Ukraine to produce the Lynx, an armored vehicle which serves as support for infantry combat. Given the prominent role of Papperger and his company, the German authorities consider the entrepreneur of 61 years old as a person under threat. “They suspected that he could become the target of a Russian attack because of his prominent position,” said the Rheinmetall president.

Russia denies it

“The information is false,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said during his daily press conference on Friday. “We find it very difficult to comment on information from some media outlets that contains no serious arguments of any kind and is based on certain anonymous sources. All of this is presented in the style of another fake news story that cannot be taken seriously,” he said.

As reported the day before US intelligence services and their German counterparts this year foiled a Russian plot to kill Armin Papperger, who has spearheaded German manufacturing support for kyiv.