Why African women are escaping from Russia's Shahed drone maker Alabuga

 

Production of Shahed kamikaze drones. [Courtesy, Ukraine Military Instagram]

Russia’s trap that has been netting African women in slave-like labour in its Special Economic Zone that lies at least 800 Miles South East of Moscow is turning out to be another problem that Moscow has caused the African continent.

It is emerging that some of the young women duped into working in the war factories have begun to escape, finding their way back to their countries in Africa, The Standard has learnt.

Revelations about women escapees, none of them being Kenyans as yet, serve to increase the tribulations that the continent is suffering in its relations with Russia after hundreds of its sons are reported killed on the Russian war front.

Early this week, in Nairobi, several families that had lost their sons in Russia, led by rights group Vocal Africa, cried out demanding help from the Kenyan government to have the bodies of their dead loved ones brought back home for burial.

In Russia’s protracted conflict with Ukraine, over a hundred young African women, among them at least 24 Kenyans, have been duped into serving in menial jobs in war factories that are based in the Tatarstan Republic of Russia, making Shahed-type drones.

The women were duped into joining through lofty promises, mostly run online by a program called Alabuga Start that promises training opportunities in Russian institutions and jobs in hospitality and other sectors that would pay them at least 50,000 Rubles (Sh 86,000) per month.

A source who once worked for the Alabuga Start recruitment syndicate on the African continent and who requested anonymity told The Standard that the Alabuga Start program has been preying on Ethiopian, Kenyan, Ugandan and South African young women, ensnaring them through promises of educational opportunities and jobs in the hospitality industry.

“For now, I cannot share with you the names of the girls who have escaped, as they are too scared. I know of many participants from East Africa still stuck in Alabuga and at other sites in Russia. Hundreds of girls have been sent to Russia for this program that is supposed to last 2 years and yet only a few have returned”. Said the source

He said after landing in Russia, the young women whose age range between 18 and 24 were herded into forced labour in war factories.

Rescuers carrying a body out of a residential building heavily damaged during a large-scale Russian drone and missile attack on Kyiv, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine on Aug 28, 2025. [AFP]

“In my previous role, I was involved in promoting the Alabuga Start program, which preys upon Ethiopian, Kenyan, Ugandan and South African girls” Says the man in a response to our questions. He adds, “It lures them to Russia all the way to Tatarstan with the promise of a well-paying job and education. Instead, these girls are forced into making weapons, harassed and worked to exhaustion”

In Moscow’s expanded strategy of war against Ukraine, it has targeted jobless youth in the Global South using underhanded recruitment methods to get women into labour in war factories making weapons, even as it ensnares African young men into its army to serve as quick disposables on the war front.

According to the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) majority of the drones used against Ukraine during the entire year of 2025 had been manufactured in the Alabuga Special Economic Zone.

Throughout the year, there were virtually no days without nighttime and large-scale air attacks by Russian forces using hundreds of Shahed-type Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), combined with ballistic and cruise missile strikes launched from various regions of Russia and occupied territories such as Crimea and Donetsk, said ISIS in its latest report published January 22.

The number of UAVs launched in individual attacks ranged from dozens to over 800.  According to official Ukrainian data, the total number of Shahed-type UAVs launched by Russia in 2025 amounted to 54,538, including approximately 32,200 Shahed-type strike UAVs that were manufactured under the Alabuga Start program.

Notable large-scale attacks included the strike on December 6, 2025, on Ukraine, which involved 653 Shahed-type UAVs. This included more than 300 Shahed and Gerber strike UAVs. The attack on October 30, which also involved 653 Shahed-type UAVs.  The strike on July 9, 2025, using 728 Shahed UAVs and the largest attack on September 7, using 823 air attack vehicles, including 810 Shahed-type UAVs. 

All the strikes majorly targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and as the cold season of winter arrived, most people have had a rough time heating their houses. The BBC reported Friday morning that in Kyiv alone, nearly 6000 buildings have lacked electricity, making it difficult to heat houses and offices.

“More than making drones, I can attest that many of these girls are raped and sold into prostitution. I know of a few that have escaped and returned home, but many more are trapped in this nightmare,” Said the former Alabuga start recruiter who now runs a campaign dubbed stop Alabuga creating awareness about the coaxed recruitment of African women into near-slave labour

Apart from being coerced into dangerous jobs in Russia, the women have also ended up being used as sex slaves to be shipped to different locations in Russia

“Powerful people are involved in promoting the international sexual slavery scheme that is Alabuga Start.” Said the source, “Some countries have prevented their girls from leaving for Russia and put an end to this program”.