Awkward!

Nine chances in ten this is the SVR free-lancing without direct orders from Putin, but still awkward timing:

American intelligence agencies uncovered a Russian plot to kill the chief executive of a German weapons manufacturer, according to multiple Western officials, as Moscow steps up a campaign to undermine support for Ukraine’s war effort.

The United States warned Germany about the plot, and German officials increased protection for Armin Papperger, who leads Rheinmetall, which makes artillery shells and tanks that Ukraine has used in its war against Russia.

This year, Russian military intelligence has carried out a series of arsons aimed at disrupting the supply of weapons and other materiel to Ukraine, prompting the expulsion of undercover spies and warnings from NATO. The assassination plot is a significant escalation, officials said, representing a more concerted covert effort to deter Western companies from producing supplies for Ukraine.

This is the kind of plot that fails even if it succeeds; indeed, uncovering the plot before it killed the guy was probably doing the Russians a favor given sketchy German public opinion.