(RightWing.org) – US intelligence helped foil a Russian plot to murder a German businessman. Earlier this year, agents discovered plans to kill the CEO of Rheinmetall, a major defense manufacturer. They passed the information to German security services, who managed to protect the target.
Since the beginning of this year, Russia has been trying to slow down the flow of Western weapons to Ukraine by attacking Europe’s defense industries. Vladimir Putin’s agents have been linked to a string of sabotage attacks, including a mysterious fire at a German factory and an equally mysterious explosion at a British artillery shell manufacturer. Now US and allied intelligence officers have revealed that Russian agents have even planned to murder Western citizens as part of their campaign.
Armin Papperger is the CEO of Rheinmetall, a German defense giant that produces everything from small arms to tanks. One of its specialties is artillery and ammunition — the 120mm gun that arms US Abrams tanks is a Rheinmetall design — and it’s become a major supplier of 155mm artillery shells sent to Ukraine.
On July 9, US and NATO intelligence officers told the media that, earlier this year, they’d learned that Russian agents planned to kill Papperger, probably in an attempt to intimidate the company into shutting down its supplies to Ukraine. The heavily outnumbered Ukrainian defenders have been relying on artillery to hold back Russian attacks, but are running critically low on ammunition. If Rheinmetall could be “persuaded” to stop shipping shells it would seriously weaken the embattled country’s defenses.
However, the intelligence agencies weren’t about to let that happen. Instead, they told the German government what they’d learned. Germany immediately deployed its internal security service, the BfV, which managed to shut down the plot. For now, Rheinmetall is free to continue shipping weapons — but Russia seems determined to expand its “shadow war” across Europe.
Copyright 2024, RightWing.org
