A report by the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team reveals that Russia is employing up to 25,000 North Korean laborers, disguised under student visas, to manufacture military drones at facilities like the Alabuga plant in Tatarstan. This illicit labor program generated up to $800 million for Pyongyang in 2025 to fund its weapons programs, bypassing UN sanctions. The development highlights a deepening military and industrial alliance between Moscow and Pyongyang.
North Korean drone workers
- ▪North Korean laborers in Russia are employed in assembling military drones at the Alabuga Special Economic Zone in Tatarstan, Russia.
- ▪North Korean workers in Russia's drone industry face strict control over their movements and contact with outsiders, with those who attempt to flee risking reprisals against their families in North Korea.
- ▪In 2025, Russia completed construction of a vast housing complex at the Alabuga Special Economic Zone to house foreign workers, including North Koreans.
- ▪A report by the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team released on September 16, 2026, states that up to 25,000 North Korean laborers are working in Russia's military drone industry.
Russian visa evasion schemes
- ▪The Russian Foreign Ministry issued over 36,400 visas to North Koreans in 2025, with 98% of those visas designated for students.
- ▪The Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team reported that Russia created a student visa scheme to disguise North Korean laborers as students to evade international sanctions.
- ▪Russia adjusted its domestic laws to allow individuals on student visas to earn income and bribed Russian universities to facilitate the labor scheme.
Troop deployment near Kursk
- ▪In late October 2024, the United States and South Korea estimated that approximately 8,000 to 11,000 North Korean soldiers had deployed to Russia's Kursk region near the Ukrainian border.
- ▪U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated on Thursday that Russia trained North Korean soldiers in artillery, drones, and basic infantry operations for front-line combat
Revenue for weapons programs
- ▪The Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team estimated that North Korea's illicit overseas labor program generated between $450 million and $800 million in 2025.
- ▪The Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team reported that North Korea transported illicit cash back to the country physically using diplomatic vehicles, diplomatic pouches, and overseas business travelers.
- ▪The North Korean government confiscated the majority of the wages earned by its overseas workers, leaving many workers in debt to the state.
- ▪Each North Korean worker employed in Russia generated an estimated average of $7,500 in annual wages, which is up to five times more than they could earn in China.
Military cooperation deepening
- ▪The Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team stated that military cooperation between Russia and North Korea has expanded beyond weapons supplies and troop deployments to include labor and industrial production.
- ▪The United Nations Security Council passed a resolution in 2017 making it unlawful for member states to allow North Koreans to earn income within their jurisdictions.
Debatable claims
- ▪North Korean laborers in Russian military factories are legitimate military targets
- ▪The UN sanctions regime against North Korea is no longer effective
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