Foreign students recruited for drone assembly in Russian factories

The Alabuga Polytech University, located in the city of Yelabuga in Tatarstan, is enrolling students in technical fields, collaborating with the special economic zone "Alabuga," which describes itself on its website as the "best in Europe," reports the opposition channel Nastojaszczeje Wriemia, which is banned in Russia.

As part of the internships, students are employed in assembling combat drones for military needs and are offered a job after completing their internships. The factory in Yelabuga has been operating since 2023, initially using Iranian components, although more parts are sourced from Russia each month.

Russia recruits foreigners from all over the world, including from African countries, as well as from Kyrgyzstan and Sri Lanka, and uses the labour of teenagers, often forced labour, claims Nastojaszczeje Wriemia. Brochures distributed to students in Astana openly inform that the work involves assembling assault drones for the Russian army, accepting candidates as young as 14 years old. "Assembling assault drones that destroy the enemy is great," the leaflet's authors claim.

Under the phone number provided in promotional materials, university representatives confirmed to journalists of Nastojaszczeje Wriemia that students are recruited to work in the military factory.

We do not deceive them. They know everything. We have people from CIS countries, from all over Russia, who want to study with us, the reporters heard.

Russian investigative journalists report that factory workers, both from Russia and abroad, complain about lower-than-promised salaries, forced overtime, and "slave-like" working conditions. Students are prohibited from sharing information about their studies and work under threat of expulsion and high financial penalties.

The authorities of Kazakhstan have so far not commented on reports about the distribution of university brochures in Astana or the recruitment of Kazakh youth to Russian military factories. Nastojaszczeje Wriemia reminds that officially Astana neither condemned nor supported Russia's invasion of Ukraine, maintaining close relations with the Kremlin.

Arman Shorayev, an opposition journalist and social activist from Kazakhstan, believes that "the Kremlin wants to bind everyone by blood." "This is a hidden attempt to indirectly involve citizens of other countries in this war," he explains, adding that the factory producing drones is a legitimate military target for Ukraine.

In April 2023, Ukrainian drones struck one of the residential buildings in the "Alabuga" complex. At that time, media reported about 14 injured.