Explosive details about attack plans - The name of the Rheinmetall boss is mentioned four times in a secret Putin meeting

FOCUS online Explosive details about attack plans - The name of the Rheinmetall boss is mentioned four times in a secret Putin meeting Josef Hufelschulte • 6 hours • 3 minutes reading time Russia's head of state Vladimir Putin threatened the CEO of the Düsseldorf-based arms company Rheinmetall, Armin Pappberger, in a previously unknown speech to senior officers. Putin sees the top manager as an accomplice of the hated government in Kiev. Armin Papperger, 62, was a fun-loving man all his life. The native of Lower Bavaria, who has been CEO of the Düsseldorf-based arms company Rheinmetall since 2013, courageously approached his fellow human beings - both privately and professionally. Rheinmetall boss: "I am protected and guarded like the Federal Chancellor" That was once. Nowadays, when top managers leave their homes, they usually put on a bullet-proof vest weighing up to five kilograms instead of a tie. Armed bodyguards drive him to business meetings in an armored car. Every visitor is checked in advance by the police and the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution. "I will be protected and guarded like the Federal Chancellor," Pappberger said in a press conference. The hard break in the life of the mechanical engineer came in June last year: The US news channel CNN reported that Pappberger had been targeted by the Russian secret services and was under massive threat. German security authorities classified the CNN information as serious. The German government reacted with outrage and gave the arms manager a massive protection plan. The background to the alarming news story was clear to everyone: In the fight against the aggressor Russia, Rheinmetall is supporting the Ukrainian army with the most modern military equipment. Under Armin Papperger's responsibility, the arms company supplied, among other things: Leopard 1 and 2 battle tanks, Marder and Lynx infantry fighting vehicles, Gepard anti-aircraft tanks, Fuchs transport armored personnel carriers, anti-aircraft systems and artillery ammunition. Weapons deliveries to the Ukrainian army: a clear provocation for Putin When it was announced in February 2024 that Rheinmetall would build an ammunition factory and a tank repair shop in western Ukraine at the request of the government in Kiev, there was a strong reaction in the Kremlin. March 2024, Rostov-on-Don, almost 1,000 kilometers south of Moscow: In a hermetically sealed military complex, head of state Vladimir Putin meets high-ranking officers of the army and the military intelligence service GRU. After two specialist presentations on the course of the war, Rheinmetall's arms deliveries as well as the planned ammunition factory and tank workshop are also discussed. The officers, including a few generals, are apparently not beating around the bush: Western arms deliveries to the Ukrainian army are a provocation, and all logistical support must be restricted in the future. Of course, this operation will require not only the army but also Russia's secret services. Russia sees Pappberger as a provocateur and backer This, as everyone understands, is an appeal to the military secret service GRU, which has existed since 1918 and is held responsible for numerous state-sponsored assassinations of political opponents, spies and defectors. And then the appearance of Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin. A Western secret service apparently had a top informant in the confidential officers' circle or was able to document the speech electronically. What is certain is that the President of the Russian Federation mentioned the German company boss by name four times in his speech - and thus branded him as a provocateur and backer of the Ukrainian war opponent. "An unusual and tough statement that really impressed us," said a senior official of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution to FOCUS online. This report triggered alarm among the German security authorities, as employees from high-ranking security circles further report. It has been known for years that the Russian secret service sends sabotage agents to the West. They plan and carry out attacks on infrastructure, including railway lines, airports, hospitals and energy companies. Pappberger: "I am a very lucky person" Experts from the GRU commandos Alpha and Wimpel are called upon to carry out assassination missions. In 2019, a member of these elite units shot a former Chechen field commander in the Kleiner Tiergarten in Berlin - in broad daylight on a children's playground. It is not known whether Armin Pappberger's life is currently in danger. The arms company and the security authorities have not commented on the matter. "I feel safe," said the mechanical engineer months ago. "I am a very lucky person."