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Around 25,000 North Korean Fake Students Work at Russian Drone Plants
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Abound 25,000 North Korean citizens are employed at Russian drone manufacturing facilities, including the Alabuga Special Economic Zone in Tatarstan, as Russia expands its use of North Korean labor in defense-related production, Bloomberg reported on September 17.
Citing a report compiled by the United States and its partners, Bloomberg said North Korean workers employed abroad generated more than $800 million for Pyongyang in 2025. The revenue could help fund North Korea’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs.
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According to the report, North Korean workers are entering Russia on student visas, with their employment officially presented as education in an apparent effort to bypass international sanctions restricting North Korean labor abroad.
Workers at Russian facilities receive an average annual salary of about $7,500. Most of those earnings, however, are taken by North Korean authorities. In some cases, the amount demanded from workers exceeds their actual income.
Russia also offers substantially higher wages than other destinations for North Korean labor. Monthly earnings there can be up to five times higher than in China, making employment in Russia a significant source of foreign currency for Pyongyang.
An estimated 15,000 to 30,000 North Korean nationals were working in Russia by the end of 2025, compared with between 25,000 and 70,000 in China, according to the report.
“DPRK authorities exercise extreme control over laborers’ movement and interactions with outsiders in order to prevent defections, while laborers who do defect risk reprisals against family members remaining in North Korea,” it said, cited by Bloomberg.
The reported deployment of thousands of North Korean workers comes as Russia continues to expand the Alabuga Special Economic Zone, a major production hub for Shahed-type strike drones used in attacks against Ukraine.
OSINT analyst Dnipro Osint reported that construction is continuing in the southern section of the industrial complex. Several large production buildings have already been erected, while additional facilities remain at various stages of construction.
There will be even more Shaheds. Satellite imagery shows the construction of new production facilities at the Alabuga Special Economic Zone
— Dnipro Osint (@GarbuzYe) September 13, 2026
The expansion of industrial infrastructure continues in the southern part of the economic zone. Several large production buildings have… pic.twitter.com/HFBlCdtDVk
The revenue generated through North Korean labor abroad is particularly significant amid Pyongyang’s continued development of its nuclear capabilities. North Korea has recently built a new uranium enrichment facility at its main nuclear complex in Yongbyon, which could accommodate as many as 28 cascades of gas centrifuges.
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