Drone attacks have dominated the war in Ukraine. Russia was lagging behind in this battle, so, lacking its own effective hardware, it began purchasing Shahed drones from Iran and then assembling them at a factory in the city of Yelabuga in Tatarstan, in a special economic zone.
There were supposed to be studies, but what happened was the assembly of drones
Ukrainian intelligence knows this well. In April, a Ukrainian drone, flying an unprecedented distance (about 1,300 km), struck a dormitory at a factory in Tatarstan. According to unofficial information, 14 people were injured. According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), many of them are student workers who were placed in East Africa.
The newspaper describes how the Russian factory, in cooperation with Iran, was able to start production and produce drones ahead of schedule. The Kremlin took advantage of Tehran’s experience in purchasing spare parts through front companies in the United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong. Yes, among other things he bought engines from a Chinese company and employed African women.
Assemble a drone and you’ll get a diploma
Uganda became the main source of cheap labor for the factory. In early 2023, Russian factory managers visited the Ugandan capital, Kampala, where recruitment was organized with local students, according to a promotional video available on the website of the economic zone itself and the stories of event participants.
This was explained to the WSJ by local school deputy principal Joseph Kazibwe, who, along with other teachers, administrators and student leaders, selected the candidates for interviews. According to Kazibwe, the Russians were interested in female students who performed well in science subjects in high school. They were offered a salary three times higher than in Uganda (according to the Wall Street Journal, African women earn nearly $1,000 in Russia), free flights and accommodation, and a university degree.
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