US broadcaster CNN reported, citing five unidentified US and Western officials, that US intelligence services had discovered earlier this year that Russia was planning to kill Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger.
The German government said Friday it “will not be intimidated” by Russian attempts to undermine the country’s support for Ukraine, but declined to comment on a report that Moscow planned to assassinate the chief executive of a major defense company.
CNN reported Thursday, citing five unidentified U.S. and Western officials, that U.S. intelligence services had discovered earlier this year that Russia was planning to kill Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger. The U.S. informed Germany, whose security services were able to protect Papperger and foil the plot. Rheinmetall is a major supplier of military technology and artillery shells to Ukraine.
Neither Rheinmetall nor the German government would comment on the report. Interior Ministry spokesman Maximilian Kall said his ministry could not comment on “individual threat situations,” but added that, more generally, “we take the significantly increased threat of Russian aggression very seriously.”
“We know that the regime of Russian President Vladimir Putin wants above all to undermine our support for Ukraine in its defense against the Russian war of aggression, but the German government will not be intimidated,” Kall said.
He noted that German security measures have been significantly strengthened since 2022 and that “threats range from espionage and sabotage to state terrorism and cyberattacks.”
Germany, second largest arms supplier to Ukraine
In April, German investigators arrested two German-Russian men suspected of espionageone of them accused of agreeing to carry out attacks on potential targets, including U.S. military installations, in the hope of sabotaging aid to Ukraine.
Germany has become Ukraine’s second largest arms supplierafter the United States, since Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than two years ago.
CNN reported that Papperger’s alleged plot was part of a series of Russian plans to kill defense industry executives across Europe who support the Ukrainian war effort.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov rejected the report. “All this is once again being presented in a false light, and therefore such reports cannot be taken seriously,” he told reporters on Friday.
Additional sources • adaptation: Serge Duchêne
