Germans Slam Russian Plot To Kill Rheinmetall Chief

German political figures have reacted angrily to a report that Russia had plotted to kill the head of Germany's biggest arms company, Rheinmetall, Armin Papperger, as reported by Paul Kirby for BBC News.

Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger I Photo: Rheinmetall

A CNN report indicated that US officials had informed their counterparts in Berlin about the plot earlier this year, prompting an increase in security around Papperger. Germany's interior ministry refused to comment, but Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock appeared to confirm the details.

"In view of the latest reports on Rheinmetall, this is what we have actually been communicating more and more clearly in recent months," she said at the NATO summit in Washington.

"Russia is waging a hybrid war of aggression."

In Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov rejected the allegations, stating, "It's all presented in the style of another fake story, so such reports cannot be taken seriously."

Rheinmetall avoided commenting on issues of "corporate security," but Papperger is now described as the most highly protected figure in Germany's economy.

He told the Financial Times that German authorities had imposed a "great deal of security around my person."

Rheinmetall, one of the world's biggest producers of ammunition, has become key to supplying Ukraine with arms, armored vehicles, and other military equipment.