DPRK Plans to Send Thousands of Workers to Russia to Produce Drones

North Korea is considering sending labor to the Russian Shahed production of – Russia is preparing a new infrastructure for them.

The Japanese media NHK reports on this, citing its own diplomatic sources in the West and Russia.

Russia is increasing the production of drones, and North Korea can fully provide it with cheap and disciplined labor in exchange for training to operate them.

This regards the plans to send 25,000 North Korean workers to the Alabuga Special Economic Zone, the location of the main production facilities for Shahed-136/Geran-2 drones and other reconnaissance drones.

These intentions are confirmed by the latest satellite images of the industrial agglomeration in Alabuga, where the Dnipro Osint researcher has identified intensified construction work.

The images show the construction of new buildings – probably dormitories – on three plots with a total area of about 1.39 km² next to a residential area. Already, there are up to 50 new buildings in various stages of completion. But judging by the marked construction sites, the planned number will be much higher.

A typical housing scheme for foreign workers in the Alabuga industrial agglomeration consists of two-story dormitories with rooms for four people and shared showers and restrooms. From the windows, it can be estimated that each building consists of 64 rooms and can accommodate up to 256 people.

Suppose that the construction plan provides for the construction of 100 residential buildings of this type, which is quite realistic and visually similar in size. In that case, the resulting number of residential places will coincide with the announced intention to accommodate 25 thousand new employees.

The news of the possible deployment of thousands of workers to Russian defense installations came two days after Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu arrived in Pyongyang on a working visit, where he announced the recruitment of new North Korean military personnel.

“The DPRK’s head of state, Kim Jong-un, has decided to send a thousand sappers to Russia to clear the territory of mines, as well as five thousand military construction workers to rebuild the destroyed infrastructure,” Shoigu said.

The possible exchange of labor for training workers and drone operators also coincides with the information provided by Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine’s intelligence agency, who reported that Russia was helping to establish the production of long-range Shahed-136/Geranium-2 kamikaze drones in North Korea.

Budanov suggested that Russian assistance to the DPRK would lead to changes in the military balance on the Korean Peninsula. In addition, drones manufactured at Korean facilities could be exported back to Russia to support the war against Ukraine.