Russia expanding drone plant in Alabuga, satellite images show
Shahed UAV assembly line (Photo: Russian media)
The existing drone manufacturing plant in Alabuga,
Tatarstan, is expanding to include over 1,000 hectares for new production
facilities, warehouses, transport infrastructure, German newspaper Bild
reported on Sept. 3.
Production at Alabuga is operating at full capacity. A March analysis by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a U.S. think tank, estimated that the facility’s reported production capacity exceeded 5,500 drones per month.
According to Ukrainian intelligence, Russia planned to produce as many as 11,000 attack drones of various models in August. Since August, Alabuga has recruited young workers from Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine.
The Alabuga Start program also recruits young women from
abroad under the pretext of offering them educational opportunities in Russia.
Instead, they are hired as cheap labor at the plant. In May, the United Kingdom
imposed sanctions on several people and organizations linked to the program.
At the same time, Russia is strengthening the plant’s
defenses against Ukrainian drone attacks. Two rings of towers are being built
around the main production facilities. An analysis of satellite imagery by the
Institute for Science and International Security found that metal mesh could be
installed between the rings to prevent attack drones from reaching the
production buildings.
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