Attack on Rheinmetall boss planned? Moscow rejects allegations

The Kremlin has rejected the accusation of a Russian assassination plot against the head of the German arms company Rheinmetall, Armin Papperger. “Such reports cannot be taken seriously,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov on Friday in Moscow, referring to corresponding media reports. “This is set up in the style of fake news,” he emphasized.

Peskov was questioned about a report. The US broadcaster cited western authorities who claimed that the US and Germany had foiled a Russian assassination attempt on Papperger. The arms company Rheinmetall is an important arms producer for Ukraine. The company did not comment on the report, which is also true according to information from the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”.

The Federal Ministry of the Interior also remained tight-lipped when asked by the Reuters news agency, pointing to a broad threat to Germany from Russia. “The threats range from espionage, sabotage and cyber attacks to state terrorism,” a spokesman said on Friday in Berlin. He could not provide any details. But it was clear that the country was exposed to a wide range of threats. “The federal government will not allow itself to be intimidated. We have massively increased our protective measures in the face of the Russian threat over the past two years,” the spokesman added.

Armin Papperger under personal protection

On Thursday evening, the “Spiegel” reported, citing security sources, that Western intelligence services had observed suspicious travel by suspected agents in recent months. The men are said to come from countries of the former Soviet Union, at least one from Russia. Some of them had already been in the Schengen area, and others were about to enter the country.

Suspects were found both near Rheinmetall headquarters and at Papperger’s travel destinations abroad. According to “Spiegel”, senior officials suspected that they could have been henchmen hired by Moscow. However, the evidence was not sufficient to make any arrests.

In the past, there was already an arson attack on Papperger’s garden shed. He has apparently been receiving personal protection for some time. The head of the Dax group has repeatedly condemned the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine in clear terms.

Rheinmetall is one of the largest European suppliers of tank technology and artillery shells for Ukraine and, according to its own statements, the largest manufacturer of artillery ammunition in the Western world. In June, Rheinmetall opened a repair workshop for infantry fighting vehicles in Western Ukraine. The production of new tanks is also planned.

Germany outraged over alleged attack plans

The CNN report has caused outrage in Germany. “It shows once again that Russia is bringing its war and terror to Europe,” said the chairman of the Defense Committee, Marcus Faber (FDP), to the “Bild” newspaper. “The Putin regime is now also trying to kill German citizens.”

The chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Michael Roth (SPD), told the newspaper that Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin was “not only waging a war of annihilation against Ukraine, but also against its supporters and our values”.

Green Party security expert Konstantin von Notz is calling for tough action if the report turns out to be true. “The reaction to similar incidents in the past was often too timid and indecisive,” the chairman of the Parliamentary Control Committee, which is also responsible for the secret services, told the newspapers of the Funke Media Group.

Other arms company managers also in the crosshairs

“To this day, many people do not want to acknowledge the seriousness of the conflict and the determination of the other side,” said von Notz, referring to the Russian aggression. “We must understand that these are no longer isolated incidents, but that our democracy and our constitutional state are being seriously threatened and attacked by various authoritarian states.”

According to the CNN report, the uncovered plot was part of a planned series of assassination attempts on executives of arms companies across Europe who use their weapons to support the Ukrainian defensive war against Russia.

Support Ukraine against Russia

CDU defense expert Serap Güler told Bild: “In my opinion, our reaction to this can only be increased support for Ukraine.” SPD member Roth demanded that the German response must be “the rigor of a democratic constitutional state.”

Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) said on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Washington that Russia was waging a hybrid war of aggression. There had also been attacks on people on European territory and on factories. The communications director of the US National Security Council, John Kirby, told Welt TV that Putin was holding Western arms companies partly responsible for the course of the war in Ukraine – even though the Kremlin chief himself could “end it tomorrow”.

Rheinmetall wants to further boost production

By 2026, Rheinmetall wants to increase its annual production of artillery shells to 1.1 million rounds, Papperger told the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung”. Before the Russian war against Ukraine, it was 70,000. Papperger assumes that the war could last a long time. This is also damaging to the Russians. “But it could last forever, Russia has completely converted its industry to a war economy,” said the CEO.

Note: This post has been updated.