(RepublicanDaily.com) – Intelligence agents from the U.S. and other Western powers have uncovered and foiled alleged plots from Russian agents to assassinate several personalities that have allied with, or are aiding Ukraine.
The majority of the attacks were reportedly going to be against targets in Europe. Sources identified one of the primary targets as Armin Papperger, who happens to be the CEO of Rheinmetall, a weapons and defense firm based in Germany. According to reports, one of the primary means Russian agents are using to execute their plans is to pay local crime syndicates and gangs to do their dirty work for them.
Rheinmetall is one of the largest weapons manufacturers in the world, and specializes in primarily artillery and heavy armaments. It is one of Ukraine’s biggest suppliers for its artillery shells and other military technologies, so much so that the firm put up a facility in Ukraine so it can conduct maintenance and repairs on Ukrainian weaponry, as well as produce more weapons directly in the country.
Germany’s government nor Rheinmetall have commented on the supposed plot against Papperger. Germany’s Interior Ministry said that it does not issue comments on “individual threat situations”, but gave assurances that it is taking threats from Russian agents “very seriously.” Maximilian Kall, a spokesperson the Interior Ministry, said that the country has stepped up its security measures – particularly against threats from Russia – since 2022, given the latter’s propensity towards sabotage, cyberattacks, espionage, and the like.
Adrienne Watson, a spokesperson for the White House’s National Security Council, declined to confirm or deny the plot against Papperger, only saying that U.S. intelligence and military agencies are taking “Russia’s intensifying campaign of subversion… extremely seriously.” Watson added that the U.S. is also coordinating with its allies in the NATO in an effort to better prevent and expose such plots and ensure that Ukraine continues to receive the support it needs in its continued fight against the Russian invaders.
This is also not the first time Russian agents have attempted to utilize assassination in its invasion of Ukraine – just last May, Ukrainian counterintelligence said that its agents managed to stop a supposed plot to kill the country’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, along with other top Ukrainian officials.
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