Pull to refresh
Logo
Daily Brief
Following
Why Sign Up
TS

Timur Nailevich Shagivaleev

Director-General, Alabuga Special Economic Zone

Appears in 1 story

Stories

Russia's Alabuga drone factory faces escalating sanctions over migrant trafficking

Rule Changes

Already under US sanctions (February 2024); central figure behind the Alabuga Start scheme

Russia recruits women from Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America with promises of catering and hospitality work, then puts most of them on a Shahed drone assembly line in Tatarstan. On May 5, 2026, the United Kingdom became the first country to apply its human-trafficking sanctions regime to that pipeline, designating 35 people and entities tied to the Alabuga Start programme and to firms in Russia, China, and Thailand that supply drone components.

Updated 2 hours ago