Rheinmetall to defend its plant in Ukraine

German arms concern Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger has responded to Russian authorities that have threatened to view the concern's future plant in Ukraine a "legitimate target" of the Russian Federation.

On July 20, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said at a briefing that the Rheinmetall plant for the production of armoured vehicles in Ukraine would, if built, be a "legitimate target" for the Russian military, European Pravda reports per Bild reports.

Papperger said that Rheinmetall would not abandon its plans to set up a plant in Ukraine, and that they planned to protect it from attacks with air defence systems of their own manufacture.

"For us at Rheinmetall, the key task is to support our Ukrainian partners in the fight for freedom and democracy and to meet their urgent needs as soon as possible."

Rheinmetall is establishing a production facility in Ukraine jointly with the Ukrainian state-owned defence company Ukroboronprom and will hold the majority stake.

Ammunition, armoured vehicles and Panther main battle tanks are due to roll off the Ukrainian production line.

The plant is expected to produce up to 400 battle tanks a year and to repair Fuchs armoured vehicles. In early July, it was reported that the joint facility would open within the next 12 weeks.

The German company expects to sign contracts for two more joint ventures to produce ammunition and air defence.

Rheinmetall is Germany's largest arms manufacturer. According to its own data, the company is one of the three largest manufacturers of military equipment and ammunition in the Western world. Currently, Rheinmetall's stock market value is over ten billion euros.