WASHINGTON: Western intelligence agencies have uncovered Russian plots to carry out assassinations, arson and other sabotage in Europe against companies and people linked to support for Ukraine’s military — one of the most serious being a plan to kill the head of a German arms manufacturer, a Western government official said.
The plots have sometimes involved recruiting common criminals in foreign countries to conduct the attacks, said the official, who is familiar with the situation but not authorized to comment and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
One major plot recently uncovered had targeted Armin Papperger, CEO of defense company Rheinmetall, the official said.
The official declined to offer any details on other plots, which were first reported by CNN. The CNN report said the US informed Germany, whose security services were able to protect Papperger and foil the plot.
Rheinmetall is a major supplier of military technology and artillery rounds for Ukraine as it fights off Russian forces. The company last month opened an armored vehicle maintenance and repair facility in western Ukraine and also aims to start production inside the country.
White House National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson declined to comment on the alleged plot to kill Papperger but said, “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,” Watson added. “We have also been clear that Russia’s actions will not deter allies from continuing to support Ukraine.”
Neither Rheinmetall nor the German government would comment Friday on the reported plot against Papperger. The Interior Ministry can’t comment on “individual threat situations,” spokesperson Maximilian Kall said, but he added that more broadly, “we take the significantly increased threat from Russian aggression very seriously.”
“We know that (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s regime wants above all to undermine our support for Ukraine in its defense against the Russian war of aggression, but the German government won’t be intimidated,” Kall said.
He noted that German security measures have increased significantly since 2022 and that “the threats range from espionage and sabotage, through cyberattacks, to state terrorism.”
European officials gathered for the NATO summit in Washington this week spoke of dealing with an escalation of “hybrid” attacks that they blame on Russia and its allies.
That includes what authorities called suspicious recent fires at industrial and commercial sites in Lithuania, Poland, the United Kingdom, Germany and other nations, and charges that Russia-allied Belarus was sending large numbers of migrants from the Middle East and North Africa to the borders of Poland, Latvia and other countries belonging to NATO.
When asked at a news conference at the NATO summit Thursday, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said he could not comment on the CNN report. He did note a widespread campaign by Russian security services to conduct “hostile actions” against NATO allies, including sabotage, cyberattacks and arson.
“These are not standalone instances. These are part of a pattern, part of an ongoing Russian campaign. And the purpose of this campaign is, of course, to intimidate NATO allies from supporting Ukraine,” Stoltenberg said.
In April, German investigators arrested two German-Russian men on suspicion of espionage, one of them accused of agreeing to carry out attacks on potential targets, including US military facilities, in hopes of sabotaging aid for Ukraine.
Germany has become the second-biggest supplier of weapons to Ukraine after the United States since Russia started its full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than two years ago.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov dismissed the report of a plan to kill Papperger. “All of this is again presented in the fake style, so such reports cannot be taken seriously,” he told reporters Friday.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke to his Russian counterpart, Andrei Belousov, on Friday, their second call in less than a month, Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh announced at a briefing Friday. The call was initiated by the Russian defense minister, Singh said.
She did not have further details to share, including whether the two leaders spoke about the accusations that Russia had attempted to assassinate top officials of Western defense firms producing weapons systems that are sent to Ukraine, but said “maintaining lines of communication is incredibly important right now.”
Russian assassination plots against those supporting Ukraine uncovered in Europe, official says
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Russian assassination plots against those supporting Ukraine uncovered in Europe, official says
- The plots have sometimes involved recruiting common criminals in foreign countries to conduct the attacks
- One major plot recently uncovered had targeted Armin Papperger, CEO of defense company Rheinmetall
New Zealand spy service warns of China interference
- New Zealand’s spy service warned Thursday that China is the most active power engaging in foreign interference in the country, sparking a sharp rebuke from Beijing
SYDNEY: New Zealand’s spy service warned Thursday that China is the most active power engaging in foreign interference in the country, sparking a sharp rebuke from Beijing.
New Zealand faces the “most challenging national security environment of recent times,” the country’s intelligence agency said in an annual risk assessment.
Key drivers of the deteriorating threat environment were less stable relationships between states, deepening polarization and growing grievances.
Though several states seek to manipulate New Zealand’s government and society, China remains the “most active,” the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service said.
China’s embassy in Wellington accused the agency of sowing suspicion and “poisoning the two countries’ relations.”
“The accusations sound very familiar as they rehash smears and slanders fabricated elsewhere, repackaged for the New Zealand audience,” an embassy spokesperson said.
“We have regarded, and are willing to continue to regard New Zealand as a friend and partner. But the healthy and stable development of bilateral relations depends on the joint efforts from both sides.”
New Zealand’s spy agency specifically accused China’s United Front Work Department of engaging in foreign interference to build influence outside of China.
Not all of its activity amounted to foreign interference, and some could be beneficial, it said.
“However, its activities are regularly deceptive, coercive and corruptive and come with risks for New Zealand organizations.”
The agency cautioned New Zealand businesses that under China’s national security legislation, individuals and organizations in China must comply with requests from the country’s security services.
The Indo-Pacific region is a focal point for strategic competition between powers, the security service said.
China is a “particularly assertive and powerful actor,” seeking to extend and embed its influence across the region, the report said.
“It has demonstrated both a willingness and capability to undertake intelligence activity that targets New Zealand’s national interests.”
Without naming countries, the intelligence service highlighted the routine use of “transnational repression” by foreign states, often by co-opting people to collect information about someone within their own diaspora living in New Zealand.
Looking at other risks, the agency said the most plausible extremist threat in New Zealand remained that of a lone actor, radicalized in an increasingly polarized, grievance-laden online world, who attacks without forewarning.
Young and vulnerable people were at the highest risk of radicalization, it said.
The intelligence organization said it was “almost certain” that some foreign espionage activity was going undetected.
Foreign countries were targeting critical organizations, infrastructure and technology — mostly through cyber exploitation, it said.
“It is not just intelligence officers conducting this activity,” the agency said.
“Some governments take a ‘whole of state approach’ to intelligence gathering, which includes utilising businesses, universities, think tanks, or cyber actors to act on their behalf.”
Global competition and insecurity drive most of the espionage activity against New Zealand, it said.
The service cited “multiple examples” of states seeking covert access to information on government policy positions, security partnerships, technological innovations and research.
China’s Xi pushes development, ethnic unity in rare visit to Tibet
- Xi’s visit comes ahead of potential tensions over the succession of the 90-year-old Dalai Lama, who lives in India, where he established a Tibetan government in exile
BEIJING: President Xi Jinping attended a grand ceremony in Lhasa on Thursday during a rare visit to Tibet, where he urged “ethnic unity and religious harmony” in a region where China is accused of rights abuses.
The vast high-altitude area on the country’s western edge, established as an autonomous region in 1965 — six years after the 14th Dalai Lama fled into exile — was once a hotbed for protest against Communist Party rule.
Rights groups accuse Beijing’s leaders of suppressing Tibetan culture and imposing massive surveillance, though authorities claim their policies have fostered stability and rapid economic development in one of China’s poorest regions.
“To govern, stabilize and develop Tibet, we must first safeguard political stability, social stability, ethnic unity and religious harmony,” Xi, visiting for the first time since 2021, told a group of the region’s officials on Wednesday, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
On Thursday, party officials lauded the region’s progress and urged ethnic unity during an event to mark the 60th anniversary of the founding of the autonomous region.
The ceremony was held in front of the vast Potala Palace, the ancient residence of Dalai Lamas — Tibetan Buddhism’s spiritual leaders.
Wang Huning, China’s fourth-ranked leader, called for “deepening the anti-secession struggle and ensuring the consolidation and security of the border areas.”
“Any attempt to split the motherland and undermine Tibet’s stability is doomed to failure,” he said.
A giant portrait of Xi flanked a crowd numbering 20,000, according to CCTV, which included military personnel, school children and other members of Tibetan society, many in traditional Tibetan dress.
A parade followed, showcasing Tibetan dancers, floats emblazoned with official slogans, and formations of troops.
Xi’s visit comes ahead of potential tensions over the succession of the 90-year-old Dalai Lama, who lives in India, where he established a Tibetan government in exile.
In July, the Dalai Lama said the spiritual institution would continue after his death, with a successor decided “exclusively” by his office.
China’s rulers insist the next Dalai Lama must be approved by the government in Beijing, raising the prospect of two rival leaders of Tibetan Buddhism emerging.
Xi called Wednesday for “guiding Tibetan Buddhism to adapt to socialist society in accordance with the systematic Sinicization of religion.”
He made no mention of the Dalai Lama in CCTV’s coverage.
Xi also promoted the “vigorous, orderly, and efficient” completion of the massive Yarlung Tsangpo dam, which began construction in July.
The 1.2 trillion yuan ($167 billion) hydropower project, potentially the largest in the world, has prompted concerns from India and Bangladesh, which sit downstream.
India’s government said it had raised the dam this week during talks with Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi in New Delhi.
They also discussed advancing talks on the two countries’ disputed border in the region, which was the site of deadly border clashes in 2020.
A wartime mass grave in Sri Lanka yields a baby bottle, children’s clothes and 141 skeletons
- The identities of the dead and the cause and timing of their deaths are all unclear
- Many think the victims could be civilians who disappeared during Sri Lanka’s civil war, which broke out in 1983 between government forces and ethnic Tamil rebels, who fought to create an independent homeland for the minority group
CHEMMANI: A baby bottle, a squeaky toy and a schoolbag are among items that have surfaced from a mass grave site in Sri Lanka’s formerly war-torn northern region, along with 141 human skeletons including some that appear to be of children of different ages.
The findings were made at a cremation ground in the Chemmani area near Jaffna town, the cultural heartland of the country’s ethnic Tamil minority. But hardly any burials take place here, as Hindus mostly cremate their dead according to religious customs.
Excavations have been underway since June, after workers found human remains while digging to build an electric crematorium.
A pit test over nine days discovered 19 sets of human remains. Shallow burials of about 1.5 meters (4.9 feet) in a scattered and disorganized manner, and the absence of clothing, indicated the site was a mass grave, according to a report provided to a court in June.
Since the area was secured and declared a crime scene that month, a total of 141 skeletons have been discovered within a 165-square-meter (1,776-square-foot) area. About 135 of the bodies had no clothing, and only one set of adult clothing was identified. Tests confirmed that a skeleton found with a schoolbag was that of a girl between 4 and 6 years old. Toddlers’ dresses, socks and footwear, tiny bead bangles and a baby powder tray were also recovered.
The identities of the dead and the cause and timing of their deaths are all unclear. But many think the victims could be civilians who disappeared during Sri Lanka’s civil war, which broke out in 1983 between government forces and ethnic Tamil rebels, who fought to create an independent homeland for the minority group. The war ended in 2009.
Several Tamil armed groups and an Indian peacekeeping mission were active in the region over the decades. But attention has focused on the Sri Lankan military, which had a heavy presence for over a decade in Chemmani, as the gateway to Jaffna town.
Decades-old confession heightens suspicions
A confession made by an army soldier before he was sentenced to death for rape and murder 27 years ago has strengthened suspicions about the site.
In 1998, Somaratne Rajapaksa along with four alleged accomplices from the military and police were sentenced to death for the gang rape and murder of a schoolgirl and the killing of her mother, brother and a neighbor.
The five, who weren’t hanged and remain in prison due to a moratorium on executions, have maintained that they were not involved in the rape and murder, but only disposed of the bodies under orders.
Rajapaksa told the court that he knew where up to 400 bodies were buried in Chammani.
“We cannot say exactly who the perpetrators are yet, but the finger points to the (state) army,” said Brito Fernando, an activist working with the families of people who disappeared during various armed conflicts in Sri Lanka.
The area, including the cremation ground, were under Sri Lankan military control from 1996, when it captured Jaffna from the rebels, until after the war ended in 2009. The military operated checkpoints, and anyone who entered or left the area was searched.
In 1999, Rajapaksa led police to a spot where the schoolgirl, her family and the neighbor were buried and later showed police other places where more remains were found. But the investigations were abruptly stopped.
Families want closure
Items found at the site were publicly displayed earlier this month in the hope that their owners would be identified, and many people from surrounding villages and beyond visited the site.
Amalanathan Mary Calista, whose husband has been missing since 1996 when the military arrested him in their village, said she hoped seeing proof that her husband was dead would bring a sense of closure.
“I went there hoping to see at least his clothes. There was a sarong (clothing that wraps around the waist) but it wasn’t my husband’s. He was wearing a blue sarong at the time. It was disappointing,” she said.
“I only saw the clothing of little children,” she added, as she wept.
She said her husband is among 24 people who never returned home after the military searched their village. Families had tried to block the army vehicles from taking away the detained people, but the authorities pushed them aside with guns and the vehicles sped away, she said.
“My wish is that he should be alive and return, but we can do nothing if it is not so,” she said.
“The state army arrested him. They must say that they arrested him and that he died at their hands. They also must pay us compensation,” she said.
Woman recalls military taking her brother and husband away
Sivanathan Selvamalar said she watched her younger brother being loaded into a military truck blindfolded during that same raid. Years later, in 2009, her husband was also detained at a checkpoint. He called her to tell her of his arrest and was not heard from again.
“We went to see the things, thinking they may have buried people who were arrested around this area, but we saw only the things of little children,” she said.
“We have checked all the prisons but have not found them. When we are told that more than 100 skeletons have been dug out, we fear the worst,” she added.
No children listed in missing person reports
A 2003 report by Sri Lanka’s Human Rights Commission said it investigated 281 complaints of missing persons from 1990 to 1998. Of these, three were found in prisons and later released, while the rest are still unaccounted for. The report said the military was responsible for 243 cases, while the Tamil Tiger rebels were responsible for 25. The responsibility for 10 others is unknown.
No children were listed as missing.
Nadesapillai Vithyatharan, the editor of the only newspaper in the region at the time, said several families returned to Jaffna after fleeing into rebel-held territory as the military moved in. Some reportedly went missing after being stopped at checkpoints set up to look for infiltrating rebels, he said.
Calls for DNA analysis
Although previous investigations stalled, there is hope now that victims will be identified, Fernando said. But he said the government must do more to conduct a credible investigation.
“We don’t have proper guidelines to investigate the mass graves and have no DNA bank to help with identification,” said Fernando, adding that the government should fund a DNA bank and enlist international support in the identification of victims.
“Only a proper investigation by the government can free its military from suspicion,” he said.
Any direct probe into the military would likely anger Sri Lankan nationalists. Many of the majority ethnic Sinhalese admire the military for winning the civil war.
Excavations will continue for 8 more weeks
Ground-penetrating radar in other parts of the cremation ground has shown “soil anomalies … that are indicative of comparable density of buried skeletal remains,” according to a report submitted in the Jaffna court last week.
The scanned area is three times larger than the site that has been excavated, said Ranitha Gnanarajah, a lawyer monitoring the process. Investigators have requested court approval to continue excavations for eight more weeks, she said.
Army spokesman Brig. Waruna Gamage said no one has formally accused the army of responsibility for the mass grave, and if they did they would need to show proof, he said.
“The excavations are still ongoing and it is a civil matter belonging to the police and courts,” Gamage said. “We will respect the law of the country.”
Government forces and the rebels are both accused of committing atrocities amounting to war crimes in the months leading to the end of the civil war in 2009.
This Ukrainian startup makes drones and soon, cruise missiles to strike deep inside Russia
- Like most defense companies in Ukraine, Fire Point grew out of necessity after Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022
- By pooling together knowledge from construction, game design and architecture, the company’s founders came up with novel designs for drones that could fly further and strike with greater precision than most products already on the market
When a Ukrainian-made drone attacked an ammunition depot in Russia last September, it showcased Kyiv’s determination to strike deep behind enemy lines and the prowess of its defense industry.
The moment was especially gratifying for the woman in charge of manufacturing the drones that flew more than 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) to carry out this mission. For months after, Russia no longer had the means to keep up devastating glide bomb attacks like the one that had just targeted her native city of Kharkiv.
“Fighting in the air is our only real asymmetric advantage on the battlefield at the moment. We don’t have as much manpower or money as they have,” said Iryna Terekh, head of production at Fire Point.
Terekh spoke as she surveyed dozens of “deep-strike drones” that had recently come off the assembly line and would soon be used by Ukrainian forces to attack arms depots, oil refineries and other targets vital to the Kremlin’s war machine and economy.
Spurred by its existential fight against Russia — and limited military assistance from Western allies — Ukraine has fast become a global center for defense innovation. The goal is to match, if not outmuscle, Russia’s capabilities — and Fire Point is one of the companies leading the way.
The Associated Press was granted an exclusive look inside one of Fire Point’s dozens of covert factories. In a sprawling warehouse where rock music blared, executives showed off their signature FP-1 exploding drones that can travel up to 1,600 kilometers (994 miles). They also touted publicly for the first time a cruise missile they are developing that is capable of traveling 3,000 kilometers (1,864 miles), and which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hopes will be mass-produced by the end of the year.
Even as US President Donald Trump presses for an end to the 3 1/2-year war — and dangles the prospect of US support for NATO-like security guarantees — Ukrainian defense officials say their country is determined to become more self-sufficient in deterring Russia.
“We believe our best guarantee is not relying on somebody’s will to protect us, but rather our ability to protect ourselves,” said Arsen Zhumadilov, the head of the country’s arms procurement agency.
Ukraine’s government is now purchasing about $10 billion of weapons annually from domestic manufacturers. The industry has the capacity to sell triple that amount, officials say, and they believe sales to European allies could help it reach such potential in a matter of years.
Drone innovation grew out of necessity
Like most defense companies in Ukraine, Fire Point grew out of necessity after Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. Despite pleas from Ukrainian military officials, Western countries were unwilling to allow Kyiv to use their allies’ longer-range weapons to strike targets deep inside Russian territory.
That’s when a group of close friends, experts from various fields, set out to mass-produce inexpensive drones that could match the potency of Iranian-made Shahed drones that Russia was firing into Ukraine with devastating consequences.
The company’s founders spoke with AP on the condition of anonymity out of concern for their safety and the security of their factories.
By pooling together knowledge from construction, game design and architecture, the company’s founders — who had no background in defense — came up with novel designs for drones that could fly further and strike with greater precision than most products already on the market. Their long-range drones had another benefit: they did not need to take off from an air field.
When Terekh — an architect — was hired in the summer of 2023, she was given a goal of producing 30 drones per month. Now the company makes roughly 100 per day, at a cost of $55,000 apiece.
The FP-1 looks more like a hastily made science project than something that would roll off the production lines of the world’s biggest defense contractors. “We removed unneeded, flashy glittery stuff,” she said.
But the FP-1 has been extremely effective on the battlefield.
With a payload of explosives weighing 60 kilograms (132 pounds), it is responsible for 60 percent of strikes deep inside Russian territory, including hits on oil refineries and weapons depots, according to Terekh. These strikes have helped to slow Russia’s advance along the 1,000 kilometer-long (620 mile-long) front line in eastern Ukraine, where army units have reported a sharp decline in artillery fire.
“I think the best drones, or among the best, are Ukrainian drones,” said Claude Chenuil, a former French military official who now works for a trade group that focuses on defense. “When the war in Ukraine ends, they will flood the market.”
Ukraine is becoming the ‘Silicon Valley’ of defense
Fire Point’s story is not entirely unique. Soon after Russia’s 2022 invasion, hundreds of defense companies sprouted almost overnight. The Ukrainian government incentivized innovation by relaxing regulations and making it easier for startups to work directly with military brigades.
Patriotic entrepreneurs in metallurgy, construction and information technology built facilities for researching and making weapons and munitions, with an emphasis on drones. The ongoing war allowed them to test out ideas almost immediately on the battlefield, and to quickly adapt to Russia’s changing tactics.
“Ukraine is in this very unique moment now where it is becoming, de facto, the Silicon Valley of defense,” said Ukrainian defense entrepreneur Yaroslav Azhnyuk. “The biggest strategic asset that we have is that we have been at war with Russia for 11 years.”
A case in point: Fire Point had initially sourced navigational equipment for its drones from a major Western firm, but before long Russia was able to disrupt their effectiveness using electronic warfare; so Fire Point developed its own software to outwit the enemy.
Because defense companies are high-value targets for Russia, many operate underground or hidden within civilian centers to evade detection. Although they are guarded by air defenses, the strategy has the disadvantage of putting civilians at risk. Many Ukrainians have died in imprecise Russian attacks that were likely targeting weapons facilities. Entrepreneurs said the alternative is to operate openly and face attacks that would set back the war effort.
Supplies of drones don’t last long
On the day AP reporters visited the Fire Point factory, there were dozens of drones awaiting delivery. They would all be gone within 72 hours, shipped to the battlefield in inconspicuous cargo trucks.
The Fire Point team receives regular feedback from army units, and the company has reinvested most profits toward innovating quickly to keep pace with other drone makers. Increasingly, those profits are being directed to develop a new, more potent weapon.
The company completed testing this year for its first cruise missile, the FP-5. Capable of traveling 3,000 kilometers (1,864 miles) and landing within 14 meters (45 feet) of its target, the FP-5 is one of the largest such missile in the world, delivering a payload of 1,150 kilograms (2,535 pounds), independent experts said. Because initial versions of the missile came out pink after a factory error, they called it the Flamingo — and the name has stuck.
Fire Point is producing roughly one Flamingo per day, and by October they hope to build capacity to make seven per day, Terekh said.
Even as Zelensky and other Ukrainian officials pursue ways to end the war, Terekh said she is skeptical that Russia will accept terms for a real peace. “We are preparing for a bigger, much scarier war.”
Africa could become ‘renewable superpower’, says Guterres
- Africa has everything it takes to become a “renewable superpower,” UN head Antonio Guterres said Thursday, as he called for greater investment in green energy across the resource-rich continent
YOKOHOMA: Africa has everything it takes to become a “renewable superpower,” UN head Antonio Guterres said Thursday, as he called for greater investment in green energy across the resource-rich continent.
Guterres spoke at a three-day development conference in Japan attended by African leaders, where Tokyo is offering itself as an alternative to China as African nations reel from a debt crisis exacerbated by Western aid cuts, conflict and climate change.
“We must mobilize finance and technology, so that Africa’s natural wealth benefits African people, we must build a thriving renewables and manufacturing base across the continent,” Guterres said at the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD).
“Green power in Africa lowers energy costs, diversifies supply chains and accelerates decarbonization for everyone.”
China has invested heavily in Africa over the past decade, with its companies there signing deals worth hundreds of billions of dollars to finance shipping ports, railways, roads and other projects under Beijing’s Belt and Road global infrastructure initiative.
But new lending is drying up, and developing countries are grappling with a “tidal wave” of debt to both China and international private creditors, the Lowy Institute, an Australian think tank, said in May.
African countries have also seen Western aid slashed, in particular due to President Donald Trump’s dismantling of the US Agency for International Development (USAID).
Guterres warned in his speech in the Japanese port city of Yokohama that “debt must not drown development” and that Africa needed increased concessional finance and greater lending capacity from multilateral development banks.
He also urged greater investment in climate solutions.
“Africa has everything it takes to become a renewable superpower, from solar and wind to the critical minerals that power new technology,” he said.
Attendees at TICAD included Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Kenyan President William Ruto.
Ruto said on social media platform X that Kenya was in talks with Japanese automaker Toyota for the provision of 5,000 “e-mobility vehicles” as part of the country’s “commitment to clean energy.”
In his opening address at the forum on Wednesday, Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba announced a plan to train 30,000 people in artificial intelligence in Africa over three years and to study the idea of a Japan-Africa Economic Partnership.
Before the meeting kicked off, Ishiba also announced a vision for a distribution network that links African and Indian Ocean nations.
Both Tinubu and Ramaphosa, speaking on X, said they wanted a shift from aid to investment partnerships.
