- Category
- Latest news
Russia Expands Yelabuga Drone Plant, Builds Housing for Foreign Workers
Analysis of commercial satellite photographs taken between October 2024 and June 2025 shows that the Alabuga Special Economic Zone near Russia's Alabuga has added four new industrial plots covering roughly 163 hectares and is preparing a fifth 30-hectare expansion, as was reported by NV on June 27.
Within these new zones, dozens of uniform small buildings—accompanied by kitchens, workshops and access roads—have appeared, consistent with dormitories built to house personnel drawn from outside the local region.
Ukrainian intelligence reported that “hands to work are the occupiers’ primary requirement” to increase UAV output, underscoring Moscow’s drive to secure a non-local workforce for Geran-2 production.
Moscow has actively recruited hundreds of women—including from African countries—through “international vocational training programs” promising professional instruction and decent pay, only to have many effectively forced into drone assembly under strict confidentiality clauses and compelled to repay travel and training costs to terminate their contracts, a May 2025 report by the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime found.
Russia’s reliance on imported labor extends further: Japanese broadcaster NHK, citing diplomatic sources in Western and Russian capitals, reports that North Korea is considering sending up to 25,000 workers to staff the Alabuga facilities.
Earlier, Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said on June 27 that Kyiv will expand its deep-strike drone operations, boosting sortie rates and integrating long-range munitions to enable more frequent and larger-scale attacks on strategic Russian targets throughout 2025.
