German shock at reported Russian assassination plot
Armin Papperger (C) is now seen as the best protected figure in Germany's economyArticle information
Author,Paul Kirby
Role,BBC News
12 July 2024
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.
The CNN report said US officials had told their counterparts in Berlin earlier this year and security around him was stepped up.
Germany's interior ministry refused to comment but Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock appeared to confirm the details.
"In view of latest reports on Rheinmetall, this is what we have actually been communicating more and more clearly in recent months," she told reporters at the Nato summit in Washington. "Russia is waging a hybrid war of aggression."
In Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov rejected the allegations. "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 Mr Papperger is now being 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".
The company is one of the world's biggest producers of ammunition and has become key to supplying Ukraine with arms, armoured vehicles and other military equipment.
