Russia warns of attack on German tank factory in Ukraine

Russia has called plans to build a German tank factory in Ukraine a "global provocation" and warned it would attack the facility.

"Such a plant, if built, would be a legitimate target for Russian forces, like any other facility in the Ukrainian defense industry," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a press conference in Moscow on July 20.

Ms Zakharova referred to the German defence conglomerate Rheinmetall’s announcement earlier this month that it would open an armoured vehicle plant in western Ukraine in the next 12 weeks. Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger said Ukrainian workers would be trained to repair Rheinmetall-made armoured vehicles, such as the Marder infantry fighting vehicle, Leopard 2 tanks and PzH 2000 self-propelled guns.

According to Ms. Zakharova, the Rheinmetall tank factory will be located near the area with a large Hungarian population in Zakarpattia province, western Ukraine.

Papperger downplayed the risk of a Russian attack, saying the plant would be "just another defense production facility" for Ukraine.

But Ms Zakharova warned that the plant, built by the German defence group, would be "the latest evidence of the West's militarisation of Ukraine".

"If this plan is true, it is certainly a provocation that the Kiev authorities and their Western supporters love," the Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman stressed.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova at a press conference in Moscow in April. Photo: AFP — Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova at a press conference in Moscow in April. Photo: *AFP*

Rheinmetall announced earlier this year plans to open a $218 million armored vehicle plant in Ukraine that will be able to produce about 400 tanks a year. Papperger said the plant would initially build and repair TPz Fuchs armored vehicles under German license.

After the German corporation announced plans to build an armored vehicle factory in Ukraine, Deputy Chairman of the Russian National Security Council Dmitry Medvedev warned that Moscow would retaliate by attacking any Rheinmetall facilities on Ukrainian soil.

German media reported that the Russia-Ukraine war helped Rheinmetall's revenue in 2022 reach a record of more than $7 billion, up 27% compared to 2021. In addition to opening a facility in Ukraine, Rheinmetall also plans to expand its factory in the state of Lower Saxony and hire hundreds of more workers to handle a backlog of orders worth more than $31 billion.

Moscow has repeatedly said that Western weapons supplied to Ukraine only prolong the war, and declared that these weapons are legitimate targets of Russian forces.

Huyen Le (According to RT , CNN )

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