Russia recruits women from Africa to produce Geran strike drones, investigation finds
Investigation exposes Russia's recruitment of African women to build Geran drones in Alabuga (collage: RBC-Ukraine)
The Ukrainian Security and Cooperation Center (USCC) has uncovered a transnational network recruiting citizens of African countries to manufacture Geran strike drones in Russia through the Alabuga Start program.
According to a joint investigation by the USCC and Fox News, the network operates on ideological, corporate, and grassroots levels, with the involvement of foreign female recruiters and coordinators.
Women from Uganda, Ethiopia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Kenya, Gambia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Sri Lanka are being recruited into the scheme.
Under the guise of an education and employment program, the recruited women are sent to the Alabuga Special Economic Zone to assemble drones that Russia uses to attack civilian infrastructure in Ukraine.
USCC expert Solomiia Khoma says this helps the Kremlin address labor shortages in Russia's military-industrial complex.
The Alabuga Start program has operated since 2022 and initially advertised civilian jobs, leisure activities, and relocation to Russia.
To find new recruits, Moscow uses educational and cultural channels, including the Coordinating Councils of Russian Compatriots.
In late October, at the Russia-Africa summit, the Alabuga Special Economic Zone signed official agreements with Ghana and the Democratic Republic of the Congo on youth employment.
The USCC has compiled an evidence base to support sanctions and pursue international criminal accountability for those involved.
As previously reported, Russia is systematically seeking manpower abroad both to work at military factories and to take part directly in combat operations.
In particular, it emerged in late October that Russian forces were recruiting mercenaries from African and Asian countries for assault operations at the Huliaipole front.
Western media reports that Russia is conducting a large-scale campaign to recruit Africans to fight against Ukraine, focusing on the poorest and most disadvantaged countries on the continent.
Zimbabwe, Burundi, and Sierra Leone are among the countries where Moscow is actively seeking recruits, as is Madagascar, where Russian recruiters began operating after a coup.
Moreover, this is not the first time the Kremlin has disguised the recruitment of foreigners for its military-industrial complex as education or legitimate employment.
