Russia is deceitfully recruiting women from Africa for Shahed production — investigation by AP

About 200 women aged 18 to 22 from all over Africa have been hired to work at the Alabuga plant. There, together with Russian students from vocational schools, they assemble thousands of Shahed attack drones intended for attacks on Ukrainian cities.

This was stated in an investigation by the Associated Press.

What is happening at Alabuga's production facilities

Some women said they were misled by the promise of a work-study program. They described long days under constant supervision, broken promises of wages and training, and working with harsh chemicals that left them with skin irritations, rashes, and itching.

Because of the labor shortage in Russia during the war, Alabuga recruits workers from African countries such as Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya, South Sudan, Sierra Leone and Nigeria, as well as Sri Lanka. The program is expanding to other countries in Asia and Latin America. 

One of the women who worked in the drone industry said they assembled the devices and coated them with a corrosive substance the consistency of yogurt. Many workers had no protective equipment. She also noted that exposure to the chemicals made her skin feel like it was being pricked with tiny needles, and "little holes" appeared on her cheeks, causing severe itching. 

Alabuga Start's recruitment program is actively promoted on social media, with carefully edited videos of smiling African women mopping floors, operating cranes, or walking around cultural sites in Tatarstan. However, these videos make no mention of the factory's role in the production of drones.

The program has been promoted by the ministries of education in Uganda and Ethiopia, as well as by African media, as an opportunity to earn money and gain skills. 

As a reminder, the Ministry of Defense has announced how many new drones have been deployed in the Ukrainian armed forces. Ukrainian arms manufacturers are actively developing the production of drones for various purposes. They are developing kamikaze drones, bombers, scouts and reconnaissance aircraft. 

Previously, on October 1, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukrainian companies can now produce four million drones a year. Thus, our country intends to maintain its advantage over Russia in the number of drones.