In early 2026, the American think tank Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) published a report that sheds light on a little-known aspect of the Russian military economy. It concerns the large-scale and systematic recruitment of young women from Africa, South and Central America to work in the Alabuga special economic zone in Tatarstan, one of the key centres for the production of strike drones used in the war against Ukraine.
Formally, the programme has a neutral and even attractive name – Alabuga Start. It is positioned as an international career development initiative for young women, offering free flights, accommodation, Russian language training and ‘safe work’ in the service sector. However, numerous journalistic investigations and testimonies from participants paint a completely different picture.
The first region where Russia tested this recruitment model was Africa. Uganda, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Botswana, South Africa. It was here that in 2023–2024, advertisements targeting girls aged 18 to 22 were widely distributed via TikTok and Instagram. They were promised jobs as waitresses, maids or hotel employees.
In practice, however, as the Associated Press, The Wall Street Journal and CNN have established, up to 90% of those recruited ended up in factories assembling Iranian Shahed-136 drones, known in Russia as Geran-2. Twelve-hour shifts, exposure to aggressive chemicals, lack of protective equipment, constant video surveillance and a system of fines became routine for the programme participants. After deductions for housing and training, the actual salary was often five or even six times lower than promised.
The international outcry forced the authorities in African countries to respond. Interpol began investigating the programme in Botswana, while South Africa launched an investigation into the activities of Russian recruitment agencies. It was after this, as FDD analysts note, that Russia shifted its focus to another region that was less ‘problematic’ in terms of public scrutiny: Latin America.
By mid-2025, Alabuga Start was already actively promoting itself in Brazil, Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru, and Argentina. The campaign was accompanied by narratives about ‘BRICS cooperation,’ ‘the fight against gender inequality,’ and ‘Russia’s friendship with the Global South.’ In Brazil, according to the FDD, at least ten major influencers with a combined audience of over 22 million subscribers participated in promoting the programme.
Control methods became even stricter. Candidates were required to provide photos of their boarding passes, selfies taken on planes, and reports on each stage of their journey. Upon arrival in Alabuga, the women found themselves in a situation of financial dependence. Debts for ‘training’ and accommodation made early termination of the contract virtually impossible. After Ukrainian drone attacks on the Alabuga special economic zone, the administration, according to the participants’ testimonies, began confiscating the passports of those who tried to leave.
FDD experts point out that these practices fully correspond to the international definitions of human trafficking and forced labour formulated by the UN.
The role of Alabuga Polytech College, which is closely linked to the special economic zone, deserves special attention. Back in 2023, journalists discovered that students, including minors, were being recruited to assemble drones. In 2025, the Russian television channel Zvezda effectively confirmed this by showing teenagers engaged in the serial production of Gerani in a report.
It should be noted that production figures are growing rapidly. In the first nine months of 2025, 5,760 drones were assembled in Alabuga, more than twice as many as a year earlier. The infrastructure is also expanding. According to CNN, the residential complexes under construction can accommodate up to 40,000 workers, which directly indicates long-term plans to increase arms production.
Amid accusations of forced labour, the Russian side is relying on information support. A telling example is Spanish-speaking blogger Ilya Nikolaev, who visited Alabuga and released a video in which he calls reports of slavery ‘myths.’ The video makes no mention of the military nature of the production or of drone strikes on the territory of the special economic zone. At the same time, the video is presented as independent, with no indication of possible sponsorship.
In response to the FDD investigation, Alabuga’s management claims that there have been ‘attempts to discredit a successful project.’ However, instead of transparent inspections and access for independent observers, there are only general statements about ‘foreign participants from 86 countries’ and ‘career opportunities.’
The FDD report and data collected by journalists indicate that what is happening at Alabuga Start is not an isolated violation, but a systematic practice. Russia deliberately exploits the social and economic vulnerability of young women from countries in the Global South to fill labour shortages in the defence industry, concealing the military nature of the work behind a façade of educational and career programmes.
In the context of the ongoing war against Ukraine, this practice takes on not only a humanitarian dimension, but also a distinctly political one. This is transnational exploitation that directly fuels military action. That is why FDD analysts are calling on African and Latin American countries to block Alabuga’s advertising, and on Western states to consider imposing sanctions against the organisations involved.
Until this happens, thousands of young women continue to cross continents in search of a better life, only to find themselves in military production workshops from which it is not so easy to escape.