U.S. and German forces foil Russian plot to kill the head of the German defense

Special services from the USA and Germany thwarted a Russian assassination plan targeting Armin Papperger, the head of the German defense conglomerate Rheinmetall, CNN reported on Thursday, citing American and other Western officials. The conglomerate supplies ammunition to Ukraine.

According to CNN, when American intelligence learned about the Russian plans, they informed Germany, which was able to protect Papperger and thwart the assassination. This was reportedly one of a series of similar plans by Russian services.

Russia was also planning to kill other heads of defense companies, but the assassination plan against the head of Rheinmetall was the most advanced. Rheinmetall is the largest German arms manufacturer, and it is involved, among other things, in producing artillery ammunition for Ukraine.

The station did not specify when the attempted assassination was supposed to occur. Neither the White House nor German authorities have officially commented on the reports. Still, National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said that the increasingly intense Russian sabotage campaign is "something the administration takes extremely seriously and has been very focused on for the past few months."

A high-ranking NATO official told journalists at the Washington summit on Tuesday that he views the series of incidents, fires, and assassination attempts as "a campaign of covert Russian sabotage with strategic consequences."