Russian plot to assassinate arms manufacturer CEO supplying weapons to Ukraine foiled: Report

Washington [US], July 11 : US intelligence earlier this year claimed to have uncovered a chilling plan by Russia to assassinate the chief executive of a prominent German arms manufacturer actively supporting Ukraine with artillery shells and military vehicles, CNN reported, citing, multiple US and Western officials familiar with the incident.
The plot was part of a broader scheme targeting defence industry executives across Europe who were aiding Ukraine's war efforts. Among these targets, the plan to eliminate Armin Papperger, the head of the German arms manufacturer, Rheinmetall, stood out as the most developed.
Upon learning of this threat, US officials promptly alerted their German counterparts, enabling German security services to intervene and safeguard Papperger, thereby thwarting the assassination plot. A senior German government official confirmed that Berlin had been warned by the US regarding the imminent danger to Papperger's life, CNN said.
For over six months, Russia has been conducting a sophisticated sabotage campaign throughout Europe, primarily through proxy agents. This campaign has included everything from arson attacks on warehouses holding supplies destined for Ukraine to acts of vandalism aimed at eroding public support for Kyiv, as reported by CNN.
The revelation that Russia was willing to resort to assassinations of private individuals underscored the extent of Moscow's commitment to a covert shadow war across the West.
According to CNN, Armin Papperger emerged as a prime target due to Rheinmetall's pivotal role as Germany's leading manufacturer of 155mm artillery shells, crucial in Ukraine's protracted conflict. Moreover, Rheinmetall is set to inaugurate an armored vehicle plant inside Ukraine in the coming weeks, a move deeply unsettling to Russian interests. Despite initial gains, Russia's military efforts in Ukraine have recently stalled amid resilient Ukrainian defences and significant personnel losses.
These previously undisclosed assassination plots shed light on NATO's increasingly urgent warnings about the gravity of Russia's sabotage campaign. Some senior NATO officials are concerned that these activities could escalate into armed conflict in Eastern Europe, the report said.
"We're seeing sabotage, we're seeing assassination plots, we're seeing arson. We're seeing things that have a cost in human lives," said a senior NATO official during a press briefing. "I believe very much that we're seeing a campaign of covert sabotage activities from Russia that have strategic consequences. "
The National Security Council (NSC) declined to comment on the specifics of the Russian plot and the US-German cooperation that foiled it. However, NSC spokesperson Adrienne Watson acknowledged, "Russia's intensifying campaign of subversion is something that we are taking extremely seriously and have been intently focused on over the past few months."
"The United States has been discussing this issue with our NATO Allies, and we are actively working together to expose and disrupt these activities," she said. "We have also been clear that Russia's actions will not deter Allies from continuing to support Ukraine."
The German Embassy in Washington refrained from making any statements regarding the incident, while CNN sought a response from the Russian embassy in Washington, which remained unavailable for comment.
A spokesperson for Rheinmetall, Oliver Hoffman, declined to discuss the specifics but assured, "Security measures are always taken in consultation with law enforcement authorities."
Russia's sabotage campaign has dominated discussions among NATO officials gathered in Washington for the alliance's 75th-anniversary summit. NATO has intensified efforts to enhance intelligence sharing among member states to better connect the dots between seemingly isolated criminal activities within their respective countries.
However, the indiscriminate nature of Russia's campaign, including lethal actions against European citizens on foreign soil, has prompted challenging questions about NATO's appropriate response. Under Article 5, an armed attack against any NATO member state is considered an attack against all, potentially triggering collective defence measures.
Russia's sabotage tactics have at times appeared haphazard, involving amateur operatives. Some incidents seemingly unrelated to the Ukraine conflict have been linked to Russia's broader campaign. For instance, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk suggested that a fire at an IKEA store in Lithuania may have been orchestrated by Russian elements.
In Poland, a Ukrainian individual recruited via Telegram by a Russian handler, without any face-to-face contact, was paid a meagre sum to initially spray anti-war graffiti. Subsequently, he was tasked with planting surveillance cameras and setting fire to a fence at a Ukrainian-owned transportation company, according to CNN.
Analysts have described these multifaceted operations as a "hybrid" campaign, blending traditional military tactics with propaganda, deception, and sabotage. However, US and European officials are increasingly hesitant to categorise Russia's actions solely as hybrid warfare.
"I fundamentally reject the idea that what we're seeing is a hybrid campaign from Russia. There are hybrid elements of it. When I think of 'hybrid', I think of ... defacing monuments," the senior NATO official said. "Things that meet that traditional definition of 'below the threshold of armed conflict.'"
Because Russia is recruiting operatives to carry out arson and plotting assassinations -- lethal action -- "I'm not as confident that those all fall below this threshold that 'hybrid' implies," the official said.
It remains unclear from the intelligence gathered whether Russia intended to directly execute Papperger or employ local proxies for the assassination attempt, according to CNN.
Other Russian activities have been considerably more severe than graffiti or vandalism. Recently, US military bases across Europe were placed on heightened alert following intelligence indicating Russian-backed actors were contemplating sabotage attacks against US military personnel and facilities.
In April, two German-Russian nationals were arrested for allegedly planning bomb and arson attacks targeting US military installations on behalf of Russia.
In March, several individuals in London faced charges for collaborating with Russian intelligence to set fire to a warehouse linked to Ukraine. Poland is actively investigating whether an arson attack that destroyed Warsaw's largest shopping mall in May had ties to Russia, resulting in the arrest of nine individuals connected to Russia-linked sabotage operations, according to the prime minister's statement.
French authorities detained a Russian-Ukrainian national last month, accused of assembling explosives as part of a Moscow-directed sabotage campaign.
"They're doing it now because they believe that as there are a number of elections happening throughout the west, that this is a prime opportunity to try to undermine public support for Ukraine," the senior NATO official said.
The official further emphasised that Russia perceives a window of opportunity before additional Western weapons and ammunition reach Ukrainian forces on the battlefield, making it a strategic moment for targeting Western interests.
For Russia, this "is a prime time to target the west in these types of operations to try to undermine support and prevent the flow of weapons there," CNN reported.