Earlier this year, US intelligence discovered that the Russian government planned to assassinate the chief executive of a powerful German arms manufacturer which has been producing artillery shells and military vehicles for Ukraine, according to five US and western officials familiar with the episode.
That’s what I was thinking.
We had civilians driving supply trucks for the US military in Iraq. I’d consider them legitimate military targets. “Civilian” is a pretty nebulous concept when you’re performing integral work supplying an enemy in wartime. If it’s legit to target a weapons factory of an enemy nation, it seems just as legit to target the guy running it. You can’t hack the rules of war by privatizing your military.