By the end of 2025, the russian federation intends to bring in roughly 12,000 North Korean workers to staff enterprises within the Alabuga Special Economic Zone in Tatarstan.

Alabuga is the site where russia manufactures long-range Shahed/Geran-type drones, which the russian army uses to carry out terrorist strikes against civilian infrastructure in Ukraine.

To discuss the details of this labor transfer, a meeting took place in late October at the russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs between local officials and representatives of Jihyang Technology Trade Company, a North Korean firm responsible for selecting and recruiting the workers.

According to preliminary agreements, moscow plans to pay the imported labor force approximately USD 2.50 per hour, with work shifts lasting at least 12 hours.

These developments underscore the deepening strategic cooperation between the two dictatorships and their efforts to sustain russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.