Russia seeks 12,000 North Korean workers for drone plant
Russian Shahed drone debris (Photo: Ukraine's Air Force Command)
Russia intends to bring 12,000 North Koreans to work at enterprises in the Alabuga special economic zone in Tatarstan, where long-range Shahed attack drones are produced, Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate reported on Telegram on Nov. 14.
Moscow aims to reach that number “in the near future,” extending the plan through the end of 2025.
Alabuga is qn industrial hub where Russia manufactures Shahed/Geran long-range drones, Iranian-designed systems heavily used in strikes on Ukrainian cities and critical infrastructure. The HUR says the move signals a furthet expansion of cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang.
In late October, Russia’s Foreign Ministry hosted a meeting between Russian officials and representatives of the Jihyang Technology Trade Company, a North Korean firm responsible for sourcing and recruiting DPRK labor abroad. The parties discussed the details of what the HUR described as a "labor sale."
North Korean workers are reportedly offered approximately $2.50 per hour for shifts lasting at least 12 hours.
“Such measures indicate a deepening of strategic cooperation between the two dictatorships to continue their aggressive war against Ukraine,” the intelligence agency said.
In late 2024, CNN reported that the Alabuga zone had significantly increased production of Iranian-designed strike and reconnaissance drones, relying on a mix of Chinese-made components and a young, unskilled workforce.
Since then, Alabuga has become Russia’s central manufacturing site for the Shahed-136 drone, known in Russia as the Geran-2—a key weapon in Moscow’s ongoing aerial campaign against Ukraine.
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