Russia employs thousands of North Koreans to build combat drones, sanctions monitors say

The Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team (MSMT) has reported that Russia is utilizing thousands of North Korean workers to assemble combat drones for its conflict in Ukraine, thereby bypassing international sanctions and generating significant foreign currency for the regime of Kim Jong Un. According to the report published on September 16, these North Korean migrant workers have amassed as much as $800 million for the regime over the past year, which has been used to finance nuclear and missile programs, violating UN Security Council resolutions.

MSMT estimates that up to 25,000 North Koreans are employed in Russia's drone industry, including at facilities in Alabuga, a special economic zone in Tatarstan, where Geran-type attack drones are produced, modeled on Iran's Shahed series. By employing North Koreans, Russia gains a fresh workforce pool to support its war against Ukraine, while simultaneously weakening the sanctions regime imposed on Pyongyang, a regime Russia once assisted in enforcing.

North Korean workers in Russia are often classified as students under a special visa arrangement that enables sanctions to be circumvented without a formal breach. The average annual salary for a "student" worker is approximately $7,500, with most of the money being taken by the North Korean government. Monthly wages in Russia can be up to five times higher than in China, making Russia an increasingly attractive destination for Pyongyang to send such laborers.

Despite this, the report notes that between 20,000 and 70,000 North Koreans worked in China, compared to 15,000 to 30,000 in Russia as of the end of 2025. North Korean authorities exercise extreme control over the workers' movements and interactions with outsiders to deter defections, with defectors risking reprisals against their families still in North Korea.

The MSMT was established in 2024 to monitor compliance with sanctions against Pyongyang after Russia blocked the renewal of the mandate for the UN panel responsible for this task for the past 15 years. The report highlights the exploitation of Russian schoolchildren in the construction of drones designed to kill Ukrainians, with some working up to 16 hours a day with minimal days off and receiving as little as $10 per month after deductions.

Their passports are confiscated by North Korean security officials, and workers often remain unaware of their actual employer due to Russian companies hiring them in violation of UN sanctions.