Drone factory | |
|---|---|
| Manufactory | |
| Owner | Russian Federation |
| Location | Alabuga Special Economic Zone, Republic of Tatarstan, Russia |
 | |
The Yelabuga drone factory is an unmanned aerial vehicle and loitering munition factory in the Alabuga Special Economic Zone, near Yelabuga, Repbulic of Tatarstan, Russia, operated by the Russian company Albatross. It develops drones for military use in the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and is largely staffed by college students, including minors.
The manufacturing plant develops Shahed-style loitering munitions [1] and "Albatross" reconnaissance drones. [2] It is located in the Alabuga Special Economic Zone, near Yelabuga, Repbulic of Tatarstan, Russia, more than 1,300km from the Ukraine-Russia border. [1] Within the Special Economic Zone, the drones are reportedly referred to as "boats" (Russian : лодок). [3] It was built near the Kama River, allowing direct transportation via ship directly from Iran through the Caspian Sea, [4] [2] The plant was built with materials provided by Iran. [5] The plant is operated by Albatross, a Russian company that previously made agricultural technologies, [2] and now produces drones for use in the Russian invasion of Ukraine. [5] Albatross has developed long-range reconnaissance drones for use in the war, called "Albatross" or "Albatros M5" drones. [2] [6] Before and during the plant's development, Iran supplied loitering munitions for Russia to use in the invasion of Ukraine. [7] [8] [9] The factory opened in July 2023. [2]
In July 2023, an investigation revealed the factory recruits students of Alabuga Polytech, a branch of the Yelabuga Polytechnic College, as workers, some as young as 15. As of August 2023, the factory had several hundred students employed. [10] The students were promised a job and locally competitive salary of up to 70,000 rubles (US$700) per month as part of a work experience program. Instead, students enrolled were encouraged, and in some cases pressured, into working at the drone facility where their salaries are contingent on meeting production quotas, sometimes working 15 hours shifts without overtime pay, and "often without proper breaks or meals, and under hostile conditions that have deeply affected their mental health". [10] School staff instructed students not to tell their parents about the drone assembly work, [10] or they would be fined 1.5 million to 2 million rubles, per their employment contract with Alabuga Polytech. [11]
Russia intends to build 6,000 drones by summer 2025 [12] at a rate of 310 drones per month, operating the factory 24 hours a day. [4] It predicts the cost of production of one Geran-2 will be US$48,000, or 25% of the cost to purchase. [4]
Shahed drones were previously built by Shahed Aviation Industries in Iran, where, allegedly, every drone manufactory has two backup sites in the event of an aerial attack at one site. [4] According to a document submitted by Ukraine to the G7, Shahed drones are built with commercially available parts sold by companies headquartered in the United States, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, Canada, Japan, and Poland. [13] The document suggested there is no deliberate wrongdoing on the part of the companies, and that, due to the commercial availability of the parts, the parts are simply poorly regulated or are uncontrolled. The document also reported the components are imported to Iran from Turkey, India, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Costa Rica. [13]
In December 2022, the Biden administration publicly accused Iran and Russia of moving to cooperate in the construction of a drone manufacturing plant in Russia. [14] In June 2023, the White House released a U.S. intelligence report revealing Iran was supplying Russia with materials to construct the drone manufactory, predicting it would be fully operational by early 2024. [15] Photo and video evidence from Russian social media indicated Albatross commenced some reconnaissance drone production in January. [2] Albatross's co-founder, Ilya Voronkov, said in interviews that 70% of its drones' components are made in Russia, while other parts such as the engine are from China. The company's website advertises cameras, electronics, and other equipment from European, US, and Asian companies. [2]
In September 2023, during the seventy-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly, the United States directly accused Iran of both supplying Russia with drones during the invasion of Ukraine, and of assisting Russia with the development of a drone manufacturing plant. President of Iran Ebrahim Raisi denied sending drones for use in the invasion, responding, "We are against the war in Ukraine". [16] Iran had also said it provided drones to Russia only before the start of the war. [17] The Ukrainian report to G7, submitted in August 2023, further detailed the Iranian government was trying to "disassociate itself from providing Russia with weapons" and that "[Iran] cannot cope with Russian demand and the intensity of use in Ukraine." [13] US officials determined that Iran continues to supply the Russian military with suicide drones, having shipped hundreds by May 2023, shipping them from the Amirabad Special Economic Zone and Port, Iran to Makhachkala, Russia. [17]
In a 2 April 2024 offensive, the drone factory was struck by an improvised drone apparently adapted from a civilian light aircraft, likely an Aeroprakt A-22. Ukraine's military intelligence said the strike "caused significant destruction of production facilities". [1] Local governor Rustam Minnikhanov said the attack brought no serious damage or disruption to production. [18] [1] Russian media reported a nearby workers' dormitory was damaged, with 12 injured. [19] [20]
Yelabuga is a town in the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia, located on the right bank of the Kama River and 200 kilometers (120 mi) east from Kazan. Population: 70,728 (2010 Russian census); 68,663 (2002 Census); 53,537 (1989 Soviet census).
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Alabuga is a special economic zone of an industrial and production type located in a 20 km² area in the Yelabuzhsky District of the Republic of Tatarstan in the Kama Innovative Territorial Production Cluster 10 km from Yelabuga, 25 km from Naberezhnye Chelny, 40 km from Nizhnekamsk and 210 km from the regional center — Kazan. The shareholders of the management company of the SEZ "Alabuga" are the Russian Federation through the JSC "Special Economic Zones" with 100% state participation.
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The HESA Shahed 136, also known by its Russian designation Geran-2, is an Iranian-designed loitering munition, also referred to as a kamikaze drone or suicide drone, in the form of an autonomous pusher-propelled drone. It is designed and manufactured by the Iranian state-owned corporation HESA in association with Shahed Aviation Industries.
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Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia and the surrounding region became the target of repeated Russian shelling and bombing as part of the southern Ukraine offensive from 27 February 2022 onwards. Thirty to forty percent of the infrastructure in the city has been destroyed.
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Iran has supported Russia both diplomatically and militarily since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. It has voted against United Nations resolutions condemning Russia and has regularly delivered loitering munitions, chiefly the Shahed 131 and Shahed 136, to the Russian military. Several countries have accused Iran of violating United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231, which was adopted with full support of the sitting members in July 2015 and seeks to inspect the Iranian nuclear program in preparation for ending United Nations sanctions against Iran. Additionally, Ukraine and the United States, among others, have stated that Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has had a presence in Russian-occupied Crimea for the purpose of operating Shahed drones in attacks against Ukrainian cities. Some of these IRGC personnel have reportedly been killed by Ukrainian military strikes against Russian-occupied territory; the Iranian involvement in Russia's invasion has negatively impacted Iran–Ukraine relations while intensifying existing tensions between Iran and the United States.
Shahed drones are unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs) and loitering munitions developed by Iranian company Shahed Aviation Industries. The drones are made of commercial components.
По словам студентов, у всех, кто задействован в производстве «лодок» (напомним, так на особом языке особой экономической зоны называются дроны-камикадзе)...
Кроме того, учащимся нельзя разглашать информацию о производстве — такой пункт прописан в их договоре об обучении. За его нарушение студента могут обязать выплатить колледжу штраф в 1,5-2 млн рублей.
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