Russian murder plot against German arms chief: Novichok planned for use
Stefan Thumann, chief executive of Donaustahl, lives at secret locations under protection. A Russian intelligence assassination plot is reported to have him as its target.
Arms entrepreneur Thumann living in hiding – nerve agent Novichok apparently planned
Stefan Thumann, managing director of arms manufacturer Donaustahl, is under round-the-clock protection and is staying at changing secret locations. According to 20 Minuten, citing Bild, German authorities warned Thumann shortly before Christmas 2025 that he might be in mortal danger. A few days later, a first suspect was arrested.
In a podcast recording with Bild deputy editor Paul Ronzheimer, Thumann said only that he was staying in a major German city. He does not want to disclose his exact location. His official addresses have been converted into so-called "honeypots" – deliberately monitored locations intended to lure potential agents into a trap. He has not seen his family for months.
According to Thumann, the arrested agents were supposed to find out where he was. An assassination by poisoning was then planned. He later learned from the Bundestag that the nerve agent Novichok was possibly intended to be used.
Thumann takes the threat seriously according to his own account: one of his bodyguards has undergone additional training in poisonings. He has made his will, given an organ donation declaration and completed a living will. "My death is at least factored into this story," Thumann said.
His company Donaustahl supplies, among other things, combat drones to Ukraine, naming the Ukrainian unit "Kraken" as a customer. Thumann now rejects the term "hybrid warfare". "Germany and Russia are at war," he said. Russian sabotage acts against Germany he describes as "entirely normal acts of war".
Source: 20 Minuten