Investigations with Impact

Sanction Circumvention, Increased Production, Expanded and Militarised Facilities and More Foreign Labour

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The conflict in Ukraine has been the first major war to see the widespread use of one-way attack drones with Russia’s Geran-2, evolved from the Iranian Shahed-136, used to target Ukrainian civilian and military infrastructure on an almost daily basis.

The last quarter of 2024 saw more drone attacks than the previous 23 months combined – a trend that continued in 2025, climbing to over 6,000 a month by the second half of the year. This dramatic increase has been made possible through the significant expansion of production facilities at the Alabuga Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Tatarstan, Russia.

Alabuga underwent major development in late 2024 through 2025: expanded drone production facilities, new accommodation space for a larger workforce, as well as the increasingly fortification of the site with air defences and other security measures.

With the completion of four housing complexes, Alabuga has developed a capacity to accommodate an estimated 71,000 workers, which would represent a significant uplift in staff and production capacity.   

Working alongside the Russian state, Alabuga SEZ has sought to attract patriotic Russians to work at the facilities. More controversial, however, has been the concerted effort to recruit individuals from overseas through the Alabuga Start campaign.

Presented as a professional relocation opportunity in Russia, Alabuga’s slick marketing materials conceal the military-industrial nature of the activities offered to recruits – primarily young women from the Global South.  

These international recruits have also been supplemented by state-to-state agreements to supply workers from historic allies, including between allegedly 7,000 and 25,000 North Koreans, raising concerns over potential forced labour.

While states such as North Korea may be willing conspirators in this military machine – and Russians participate out of patriotic duty – international recruits may be unaware they are being drawn into the heart of the Kremlin’s new military-industrial complex.

This report examines the development, operations and recruitment at Alabuga, which represents a case study of the military, technological and human resource collaboration between Russia, Iran, China and North Korea that has enabled the war in Ukraine and poses risks far beyond.