GUR: Russia plans to involve 12 000 North Korean citizens in the production of drones used to strike Ukraine

By the end of 2025, Russia plans to recruit about 12 000 North Korean workers to work at drone manufacturing plants.

This was reported by the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.

We are talking about "Alabuga" — a separate economic zone in the Yelabuga district of Tatarstan, where long-range drones of the Shaded and Geran types are manufactured.

According to intelligence, in late October, the Russians discussed the details of recruiting North Korean citizens with representatives of the North Korean company Jihyang Technology Trade Company, which is responsible for finding and selecting workers.

Moscow promises to pay about $2.5 per hour of work, and the shift for workers will last at least 12 hours.

In addition to working at drone factories, Russia is also enlisting North Koreans in the war against Ukraine on the front lines. The first North Korean soldiers were first spotted on October 23 in the Kursk region of Russia.

Participation of the DPRK military in the war against Ukraine

South Koreaʼs National Intelligence Service reported that North Korea had already sent 3 000 of its troops to Russia. In total, according to South Korean intelligence, 12 000 soldiers will be sent to Russia.

The first part of the troops was transported by ships of the Russian Pacific Fleet to Vladivostok on October 8-13, they were given Russian uniforms, weapons and fake Russian passports to hide their participation in the war.

Soon after, videos began to appear online about the training of North Koreans at Russian training grounds, and Babelʼs sources said that they were being trained in cities such as Khabarovsk, Ussuriysk, Blagoveshchensk, and Vladivostok. And a "special Buryat battalion" staffed by North Korean citizens is being formed on the basis of the 11th separate airborne assault brigade of the Russian Federation.

The American newspaper The Wall Street Journal, citing a former Russian intelligence officer, wrote that the strategic partnership agreement between Russia and North Korea, which Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un signed in June, contains a secret clause.

The head of GUR Kyrylo Budanov says that in exchange for soldiers, North Korea receives money and nuclear technology from Russia.

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