High-resolution satellite imagery of the Alabuga Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in mid-July 2025 reveals a vast expansion comprising hundreds of new residential buildings and a dozen new production facilities, including workshops, warehouses, and office buildings (see Figure 1). The influx of thousands of new workers and the construction of new production facilities would enable Alabuga to massively scale up the production of drones, both in terms of numbers and types, all intended to be used against Ukrainian civilian populations and infrastructure.  In the longer term, Alabuga may be looking to export drones, seeking customers in North Korea, Iran, or other countries indifferent to sanctions on Russia. 

The hundreds of new residential buildings, when finished, could hold roughly 41,000 workers.  The twelve new workspaces under construction visible in Figure 1 could provide additional workspace to produce drones, like the Shahed 136 drone, the Gerbera decoy drone, or other unspecified drone systems. Combined, these new infrastructure developments could indicate a significant expansion in military drone production at Alabuga, which since the start of the Ukraine war has sought to position itself as Russia’s premier drone production facility. 

A specific purpose for the large apparent expansion in housing could not be determined.  However, there are a range of possibilities, all having to do with increased production of drones, including more regular employees from outside the immediate area, additional students attending Alabuga Polytech,^[1] and more recruits to the Alabuga Start program,^[2] all of whom require housing in the SEZ, since Alabuga supplies housing for all its workers.

Moreover, there are media reports of North Koreans coming to the site in 2025 to acquire Shahed drone technology to take back to North Korea for establishing a drone production capability there.^[3]  Some speculate that North Koreans may help with construction projects or unskilled tasks or may contribute to drone production.  There is enough new housing slated to be finished in the coming months to hold several thousand North Koreans.  However, none of these reports could be confirmed by the publication date and will be followed up as new information emerges. 

The on-going construction depends on a reliable supply of construction workers, numbering in the low thousands.  To meet its needs for this summer, Alabuga has expanded its exploitation of youth workers, while simultaneously broadening its appeal throughout Russia to lure more workers to make drones.  It is hosting summer youth camps in cooperation with the main national youth and student organization, in a scheme that harkens back to the Soviet days of “student brigades.”  The programs this summer involve more than 3000 youth housed in a tent camp and Alabuga Polytech dorms, most helping with finishing the large housing construction projects.  They are in effect a continuation of the Soviet-era practice of involving schoolchildren and students in low-skilled work for low pay during the summer holidays. 

However, the use of youth at a facility dedicated to making drones for warfare is irresponsible and risks the lives of the youth, some as young as 14 and many, if not all, under the age of 18. Russia's incessant use of Shahed drones has made Alabuga a priority target for Ukraine, which has already launched attacks on the site, in one case striking worker housing.  The youth are unlikely to understand the risks they face, and Alabuga never mentions those risks in its promotional videos.  Nonetheless, Alabuga is well aware of the risk posed by Ukrainian drones and has built air defense installations.  It has also printed detailed guidance or instructions to the Alabuga population in the event of a drone attack. 

 

Figure 1.  An overview of a portion of the Alabuga Special Economic Zone showing the new construction, including the number of buildings being built and those in a late stage of construction. 

Drone Production Plans

Pinning down JSC Alabuga’s exact plans to increase drone production is challenging.  Its plans have always been ambitious since it started to move into drone production in late 2022, following its near economic collapse after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.  The construction of Shahed 136 drones was only one of several drone projects it sought at that time.  But its plans often far exceeded management or funding capabilities, and several projects fell by the wayside.

Nonetheless, Alabuga has managed to grow substantially.  It produces far more Shahed 136, aka Geran-2, drones than originally planned for under its franchise agreement with Iran.  It has since made several important improvements to the drone, including in its range, airframe, payload size, lethality, and air defense evasion abilities, and is producing more capable variants.  It is also producing tens of thousands dummy drones, reportedly using imported kits, which confuse Ukrainian air defenses.

Alabuga has exceeded Russian government expectations for Shahed 136 drone production, but the government’s use for the drones appears insatiable; the Russian military has essentially said it will buy all the Shahed 136 drones Alabuga can produce.

Alabuga reportedly wants to reach a near-term production level of 25,000 Shahed 136 drones per year, likely a sizable increase from the present rate.  Alabuga does not release actual production levels.  However, an upper bound estimate of current production levels can be derived from available Alabuga management-generated public information.  Zvezda, a Russian state-owned media company, recently broadcast a tour of the Alabuga Shahed 136 drone production areas.^[4]  In the video, Alabuga CEO Timur Shagivaliev claims to be producing nine-times more drones than it planned “at one time,” which can reasonably be interpreted as the first years of its franchise agreement with Iran to build Shahed 136 drones. During its contract with Iran, Alabuga stated it would produce 2060 Shahed 136 drones per year in what was called stage two of the contract.  If this is the figure Alabuga is referring to as “at one time,” then Alabuga is now producing about 18,540 drones per year.  An alternative approach is based on an early, planned production level of 7.5 drone bodies a day by August 2025, anticipated for the projected end of the original contract between Iran and the Ministry of Defense.  Nine times this level gives 67.5 drones per day, or about 24,640 drones per year.  However, Shagivaliev is likely exaggerating, and production has not reached these rates. Even the lower estimate may exceed actual production.  Nonetheless, the announcement indicates Alabuga’s commitment to greatly expand Shahed 136 production.

Consistent with original plans, Alabuga is planning to produce other types of drones, seeking to become Russia’s main center for the production of many types of drones.  This is more credible today than in late 2022 or early 2023 since the Russian government considers Alabuga's experience with Shahed 136 as successful, and the Russian leadership has supported concentrating resources in one place if that company has proven itself in a particular area. 

For example, at the moment, first-person-view (FPV) drones for battlefield use are produced by many small and medium-sized Russian companies, a practice reportedly causing significant difficulties for the Ministry of Defense. However, Alabuga has expressed interest in making them on a mass scale and may have taken the first step toward achieving this goal.  There have recently been a few job advertisements in the FPV field at Alabuga, posted from the account of the “project management” department, which is responsible for launching new projects.  It seems that for now, Alabuga wants to create a research and development project or a pilot production line, and after debugging and testing, it will be able to make a decision about scaling up to production level.

Alabuga may also be interested in building jet-powered Shahed drones.  Internal documents associated with Sahara Thunder show 2023 plans to buy hundreds of such drones from Iran along with the technology to build them.  In line with such a plan, Alabuga has many vacancies for turbojet engine technologists.

New Housing

Satellite imagery shows the foundations or structures for at least 240 new residential buildings, many times the number of residential buildings previously available onsite.  This represents a massive increase in the space available for workers at Alabuga.

The overall construction appears to have been managed originally by Alabuga Development, which has been responsible for construction projects at the Special Economic Zone.  Several tenders are available from Alabuga Development seeking contractors in early 2025 for the apartment buildings. However, a new related entity has emerged that is handling the construction of the new residences, Russian limited liability company Stroytrest Alabuga, founded in September 2024.^[5]  Stroytrest Alabuga appears to have been established by Alabuga Development and Alabuga Machinery, both sanctioned by the United States.  The reason for the new company, instead of Alabuga Development, performing the work is probably related to financing, taxes, and other bureaucratic reasons.

The bulk of the new residences are in new apartment buildings assessed as five stories high.  Other structures appear to be modular prefabricated housing containers stacked upon one another to create a building structure designed in two different configurations (see Figure 2).  Using prefabricated structures allows Russia to quickly build new housing structures at relatively low cost.  However, the apartment buildings are also being built rapidly.

The apartment buildings are in complexes of 22 five-story buildings and 54 five-story buildings, called Callista and Ganymede, respectively (see Figure 1).  These are the names of two of Jupiter’s four moons. Both Callista and Ganymede are prominent in Greek mythology.  At some point, by as early as January 2025, Callista was renamed Sredizemny Park, or Mediterranean Park.^[6]

Construction on the modular prefabricated housing container buildings possibly involves RPK Modul, under a tender from Stroytrest Alabuga, the latter advertises itself as constructing and installing container-type block modules.  RPK Modul is a major Russian modular building construction company that maintains close ties to Alabuga and has previously constructed buildings for them.^[7]  Although RPK Modul has not publicly stated its involvement in this new project at Alabuga, large scale modular building projects it has constructed for other clients look astoundingly similar to the modular buildings under construction at Alabuga.^[8]  A schematic for a two story modular building published on RPK Modul’s website matches the exact dimensions and design of one of the prefabricated building configurations seen in satellite imagery (see Figure 3).^[9]

Construction on the residential expansion appears to have started in late March 2025 and is still ongoing, making this a rapid and urgent undertaking to build so many new buildings. Part of the reason is that the external construction season in the Alabuga area is short, typically starting in March and ending in September.  Internal construction can occur in the colder months. 

Some sections of the residential complexes are already in later stages of construction, and it is expected that those buildings will be ready for residents much sooner, possibly within weeks. 

Summer Youth Camps and the Appearance of a Tent City

Satellite imagery shows a temporary tent city consisting of 119 tents as of July 12, 2025, which was built in a matter of a few weeks, near the Shahed 136 production facilities.  The tents are occupied by about 2,500 students that are part of Alabuga Stroy, or Alabuga Build, a summer program run in conjunction with the Russian Student Union or Brigades (RSO) that works with Alabuga to recruit youth nationwide to help with construction projects at Alabuga (see Figure 4).^[10],[11]  The students are working on the construction of the Mediterranean Park residential complex performing finishing, installation, and auxiliary work.^[12]  This project represents the largest labor project by the Russian Student Brigades in 2025, and students from 39 regions of the country are working at Alabuga.^[13] 

Alabuga Build allows Alabuga management to solve a recurring problem of a shortage of workers, in this case construction workers operating under a tight construction schedule to finish before cold weather sets in. 

Another summer youth project, called Alabuga Top, is in its second year and involves about 1000 young students from 31 Russian regions out of about 46 regions.^[14]  Under the guidance of senior mentors from Alabuga Build, these children help out on the sites, working as cleaners and unskilled laborers.  In Alabuga promotional videos, some of the participants are shown inside residential buildings under construction conducting assembling and finishing tasks.  Social media shows these youth living at the pre-existing “South Park” and "Headquarters" campuses. 

Alabuga Top is also run under the auspices of the Russian Student Brigades.  It is in effect a continuation of the Soviet-era practice of involving schoolchildren and students in low-skilled work for low pay during the summer holidays. 

Alabuga also runs another summer program called Alabuga Camp, which is a youth forum that invites Russian students from 9th to 11th grade to come to Alabuga for sessions (what they call “Shifts”) that focus on a variety of different “skills and educational opportunities.”  Social media posts show that kids attending Alabuga Camp live in the pre-existing “South Park” campus. 

Since 2022, nine student brigade labor projects under the auspices of the Russian Student Brigades have been implemented on the territory of the Alabuga SEZ, in which more than 7,000 people have taken part.  This year, the infrastructure is expanding, the projects are growing in number and geography, and teenagers and students have the opportunity not only to earn money and gain experience, but also to seriously consider Alabuga as a place for future study or employment.  The latter provides an additional funnel for attracting workers under 18 years old and not liable to conscription.

However, Alabuga’s practice of hiring youth under eighteen is exploitative and dangerous for the youth, who are unlikely to realize the risks.  Alabuga is dedicated to making large quantities of drones for use against both military and civilian targets, generating much damage, fear, and anger in Ukraine.  As a result, the Ukrainian military has made Alabuga a priority target and has already launched attacks on the site, in one case striking worker housing.  Alabuga never mentions these risks in its promotional videos and other information available to students.  It actively downplays the risk on social media, calling the attacks misinformation and asking those people to stop spreading false information.  However, Alabuga management knows the risks well. It has built air defense installations and has prepared detailed guidance or instructions for the Alabuga population in the event of a drone attack. 

 

 

Figure 2.  The top image shows a view of the 22 of the many apartment style buildings being built at Alabuga.  These are in the part of the complex referred to by Alabuga as “Industrial and Technological Park ‘Synergy’ Building No.26 ‘Central Park’ Stage 2,” aka Mediterranean Park, being built by Stroytrest Alabuga.^[15]  The bottom image shows a view of the prefabricated buildings under construction in another new section of Alabuga in two different design configurations. The left side image shows a configuration of 18 containers per row while the right side shows 14 containers per row. 

 

 

Figure 3.  The above image is a schematic taken from RPK Modul of its design for a two-story employee dormitory modular building.^[16]  The size, shape, and number of containers is exactly the same as the prefabricated modular buildings seen under construction in one new section of Alabuga.  RPK Modul has a history of working with Alabuga.^[17] 

 

Figure 4.  Views of the temporary tent city that was rapidly erected as short-term housing.  A total of 119 tents were set up by July 12, 2025, based on satellite imagery.  The tents are occupied by about 2500 students that are part of a summer youth program, Alabuga Build, whose members assist construction projects at Alabuga.  The image on the left is from an Alabuga promotional video.^[18] 

Population Capacity Estimates

As stated above, the hundreds of new residential buildings, once finished, would be able to house tens of thousands of workers.  This assessment is based on understanding the current living arrangements at Alabuga. Overall, the residential buildings being constructed can accommodate a total number of 41,200 people.  A complete breakdown of the residential buildings is available in Table 1 below. 

The 76 apartment buildings being built or planned are dormitory style, typically with four people per room in two bunk beds.  They are most suited for Polytech students, Alabuga Start recruits, and summer camp youth programs.  Some “regular” employees would also be housed in these apartment buildings, enjoying more space, living alone or with a single roommate.  With the bulk of the rooms holding four people each, each building is estimated to hold 360 people on average.  In total, about 27,360 people could live in these buildings, when all are finished.

The two different container building configurations at Alabuga seen in satellite imagery have a total estimated capacity, when finished, of 13,840 persons in a total of 164 buildings. The container buildings are assessed to have one to two people per container bedroom.  This number is based on analyzing schematics of a “two-storey complex hostel” published by the modular prefabricated building designer RPK Modul.  RPK Modul states that these modular buildings can hold 100 people for a building that is 18 modular containers long.  For the second configuration, which is 14 modular containers long, the population is adjusted to 68 people per building to account for fewer available bedrooms. The rooms are quite small and only contain space for two beds and a small number of personal items (see Figure 5). Based on information from Alabuga, they are not deemed as suitable to hold Polytech students or Alabuga Start recruits.  However, they could house temporary workers or foreign workers or serve to handle an overflow capacity during surges in employment. 

In terms of late-stage construction, 28 apartment buildings are nearing completion.  These could hold 10,080 persons.  Fifty-four of the container buildings are nearing completion, and these could hold 4440 persons.  The total is 14,520 persons.  If only the Mediterranean Park housing is considered, these 22 buildings can house almost 8000 persons. 

 

Type of Building	Total Number of Buildings	Building Design	Population Capacity per Building	Total Long-Term Population Capacity of each Building Type
Apartment Building	76	5 stories tall	360 people	27,360
Container Building Configuration #1	84	72 containers total per building; 18 containers per row; 2 rows of containers per floor; 2 floors total	100 people   Based on RPK Modul schematic.	8,400
Container Building Configuration #2	80	56 containers total per building; 14 containers per row; 2 rows of containers per floor; 2 floors total	68 people   Based on adjustments to the RPK Modul schematic.	5,440

Table 1. A complete breakdown of the new types of residential buildings being constructed, including each building type's design and population potential. 

 

Figure 5.  An image of the interior of a modular container bedroom produced by RPK Modul.^[19]  The room has a similar design to the ones seen in the schematic in figure 3 above. 

Housing for Who? 

The construction of such a large residential complex, akin to a small city, raises significant questions as to who will be living there?  Answering this question is important to understand what Alabuga’s goals are, and how this population will be utilized.  However, the answer is not obvious.

Alabuga has operated several programs to attract workers.  Its policy is to provide housing for all categories of employees regardless of their position.^[20]

Persons in Alabuga Polytech and the Alabuga Start international program are housed onsite.^[21]  Many Polytech students have been engaged in Shahed 136 production work, and some have been promoted to key managerial and technical roles.  Alabuga Polytech has advertised three student residential housing locations known at Alabuga as "Headquarters," “South Park” and “Hostels-2” (see Figures 6-8).^[22] 

“South Park,” which has eleven five-story buildings, can accommodate 4200 people, and the “Headquarters” is designed to hold 2000 people.^[23]  “Hostels-2” can accommodate roughly 1400 persons. 

Alabuga has for several years been aiming to attract at least ten thousand “students” to the Alabuga Polytech by 2025 .^[24]  Alabuga stated in September 2024 that 5500 students were enrolled at Alabuga Polytech and the remaining 4500 students would enroll in 2025.^[25]  One source said that about 4000 additional students are expected to arrive and must be housed in September.  With the three existing student residence complexes able to hold only 7600 persons, new housing is necessary for many of the additional 4000 students.  The new apartment buildings in Mediterranean Park are the likely choice for them.   

In the longer term, however, Alabuga may seek to increase the number of students further.  Because of the competition posed by military conscription at 18 years old and other wartime industries, the students who start at age 16 are the backbone of drone production at Alabuga.

More workers from the Alabuga Start program–Alabuga’s overseas recruitment effort to attract foreign workers, women primarily from Africa–are also likely to be housed in the new buildings. Alabuga Start has stated in its public advertisements that new residential housing will be constructed in 2025 for its workers.  Currently, Alabuga Start workers are housed in a few locations, including at an onsite dormitory complex roughly one-third of a mile from the Shahed 136 production facilities, estimated to hold 1400 persons, and also in housing originally intended for Alabuga Polytech students (see Figures 9 and 10).  Alabuga Start stated in a 2025 promotional document that its workers also share accommodations in housing originally intended for the Alabuga Polytech students, specifically the “Headquarters” building and the “South Park” campus shown in Figures 6 and 7.^[26]  Notably, the same 2025 promotional document for the Alabuga Start program stated that by 2025 it had successfully recruited 8498 workers from 77 countries.  It may be planning to attract thousands more.

One possibility is that once some of the new residential complexes are completed, the Alabuga Start workers will move out of Alabuga Polytech accommodations and move into those new buildings, freeing up space for additional Alabuga Polytech students to live in their originally advertised buildings.  Alabuga Start is expected to continue to recruit overseas workers and those workers may certainly live in some of the new residential buildings.

It appears feasible that more regular employees will also live in the new apartments.  Alabuga recently launched a nationwide campaign to attract employees.  They also have to be provided with on-site housing.  These new employees may also be needed to manufacture the 25,000 Shahed 136 drones per year and the other drones Alabuga builds or plans to build. Such a level of Shahed 136 production requires about 10,000 workers, including many from Polytech and Alabuga Start. At annual production levels discussed earlier, Alabuga may need to house an additional 2500 more workers to meet its near-term production goal (See Sidebar).

There is no apparent explanation for the container residences, particularly since these buildings would not be appropriate for the Polytech students or Alabuga Start workers, and they significantly exceed Alabuga’s current need for residential buildings. They do seem appropriate for single workers.  In the short term, those in the late stage of construction could hold about 8500 residents. 

 

Figure 6.  Top: A screengrab from an Alabuga official construction update of “South Park,” built to house incoming Alabuga Polytech students.^[27] Bottom: A Google Earth satellite image of the completed South Park housing campus. Coordinates:  55°46'56.47"N, 52° 1'3.36"E. 

Figure 7.  Alabuga Polytech students are also housed in this building, referred to as "headquarters". The building also hosts classrooms and study spaces.  Coordinates: 55°46'51.58"N, 52° 3'57.29"E. 

 

 

Figure 8.  Above is a screenshot of the “Hostel-2” Alabuga Polytech University House taken from the Alabuga Polytech website.  Below is a recent satellite image of the buildings. 

 

Figure 9.  Above are two images taken from Alabuga Start promotional materials showing the onsite housing for Alabuga Start workers, with stated information that more housing will be constructed.^[28]  Below is a recent satellite image of the Alabuga Start housing onsite. 

 

Figure 10. A slide from a promotional document outlining some of the living accommodations for the Alabuga Start workers.^[29] 

 

Sidebar: Shahed 136 Production Worker Requirements  Alabuga’s reported near-term goal is to make 25,000 drones per year.  How many workers would this require? The main Alabuga production building was designed to make 10 drone bodies per 8-hr shift.  Based on current information, including recent videos, Alabuga did not install advanced equipment to make the drone bodies, so production remains labor intensive.   Everything is still done manually.  Increases in production have been through standardization and increased production capacity, in particular more workers making drone bodies and assembling circuit boards. According to 2023 Alabuga planning documents for the years 2024 and 2025, the number of days worked per year with one shift per day is 246 days (1968 hours), which at ten per day, would translate to 2460 drones produced per year in one shift working 40 hours per week.  For three shifts per day, the annual rate would be 7380 drones per year, with each shift working 40 hours per week.  Work on the weekend was occurring, although the amount of shifts worked is not provided in the documents and is ignored here. Alabuga estimated in 2023 that one 8-hour shift required 810 persons.  Another modified estimate put the number at 882 per shift.  Using the latter estimate, three shifts in a day would require 2646 persons.  The actual numbers are higher because they do not account for employee breaks, vacations, and sick leave.  A useful number is the number of drones produced per worker.  For an 8-hr shift, with 882 employees working producing 2460 drones per year, the rate is 2.8 drones per person-year.   Alternatively, an hourly rate, which can be applied to a variety of other situations, namely 10 drones divided by 882 workers and eight hours (the daily shift), or 0.0014 drones per person-hour.  The number of workers required to make 25,000 Shahed 136 drones per year can be calculated by dividing this number by 0.0014 drones per person-hour and 1968 person-hour per year per person (a year’s worth of work, ignoring overtime).   The result is 9073 workers. This number is rounded to 10,000 workers to at least partially account for sick days and vacation days.

 

North Koreans at the Site

The media has reported on the Russian intent to transfer Shahed 136 drone technology to North Korea, which could use them to threaten South Korea and possibly sell abroad.  Such a transfer would likely require hundreds of North Koreans to visit Alabuga to obtain the elaborate Shahed technologies, arrange the purchase of an initial supply of Shahed drones, procurement help, instruction in their manufacture, and a level of experience building them at Alabuga. 

 An NHK media report claimed that up to 25,000 North Koreans could arrive at Alabuga to assist in drone production and receive training on production processes.^[30]  This number is way too high for the stated purposes, particularly if one remembers that about 10,000 workers are sufficient to make 25,000 drones per year. Moreover, there may be less than 25,000 people currently working in the Special Economic Zone, and more than doubling the number of workers seems unmanageable, particularly integrating those that likely do not speak Russian or understand local work or living cultures. 

However, several thousand North Koreans may come to assist in the construction of buildings or perform drone production-related tasks that require little training.  By using North Korean laborers, Alabuga can further increase its drone productivity.  The container buildings would be suitable housing for them and may appeal to North Korean authorities.  Dreadfully, North Korean workers are accustomed to poor living conditions and long working hours, and this can be exploited by Russia to maximize its labor shortage at Alabuga.  For North Korean officials, an enclosed housing complex would enable them to carefully control and monitor the movement and security of its migrant workers, preventing defections and broader interactions with locals.  Hosting North Korean workers would be a common evasion of UN Security Council sanctions on North Korea, as the North Korean government receives much of the income generated by its overseas workers and uses that money to fund its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

It should be reiterated that the Institute has yet to see solid evidence that such a large group of North Koreans is coming to Alabuga.  While the massive expansion of Alabuga housing, particularly the container buildings, could house such an incoming workforce, additional information is needed about what Russia and North Korea are planning. 

What is clear is that the expansion of Alabuga and the influx of thousands of new workers and the construction of new production facilities would enable Alabuga to massively scale up the production of drones, both in terms of numbers and types, all intended in the short-term to be used against Ukrainian civilian populations and infrastructure.  If the war winds down, Alabuga is likely to continue drone production, looking for new customers for its drones in countries like Iran, North Korea, China, and other adversaries of the United States and its allies. 

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Sources