Hundreds of African women scammed into Tatarstan to build Russian drones

image source, Getty Images/BBC

- author, Mayeni Jones
- author title, BBC Africa correspondent
1 hour

On his first day on the job, Adau realized he had made a grave mistake.

“We received our uniforms, but we didn’t know exactly what we were going to do. From the first day of work, they took us to a drone factory. When we walked in, we saw drones everywhere and people working. Then they took us to another station.”

Adau, a 23-year-old woman from South Sudan, said she came to Russia’s Yerabuga Special Economic Zone in Tatarstan last year with the promise of full-time employment.

he had applied for the program Elabuga startis a recruitment strategy targeting women between the ages of 18 and 22, primarily from Africa, but increasingly from Latin America and Southeast Asia. Participants are promised specialized training in areas such as logistics, food service and hospitality.

However, the program has been accused of using deceptive hiring practices and forcing young employees to work in dangerous conditions for lower than advertised wages. They deny all of these accusations, but they do not deny that some of their employees helped build the drones.

program Elabuga start Recently made international headlines influencer The South Africans promoting the program were accused of facilitating human trafficking.

The BBC has tried to contact influencer The promoters responsible for connecting them to the program were also involved, but no one responded to our requests.

It is estimated that more than 1,000 women from all over Africa were recruited to work at the weapons factory in Elabuga. The South African government launched an investigation in August and warned its citizens against conscription.

Ms Adau asked the BBC not to use her last name or photograph as she did not want anything to do with the programme. He says he first heard about it in 2023.

“A friend of mine posted a message on Facebook about scholarships in Russia. The announcement was from South Sudan’s Ministry of Higher Education,” she says.

Official memorandum of the Republic of South Sudan announcing employment in Russia. — photo caption, Adau signed up for the program after seeing the official Russian-sponsored advertisement.

He contacted the organizers via WhatsApp.

“They asked me to fill out a form with my name, age and why I wanted to join Elabuga. They also asked me to choose three areas in which I wanted to work.”

Adau said his first choice was to become a tower crane operator. She has always been interested in technology and even traveled abroad to participate in robot competitions.

“I wanted to work in a field that women don’t normally do. It’s very difficult for women to find work as tower crane operators, especially in the country.”

Due to the long visa process, it took a year for my application to be approved.

Electronic image of a ticket showing a flight from Juba to Istanbul on March 16th. — photo caption, Flights from Adau to Tatarstan.

It finally arrived in Russia in March last year.

“When I first got there, I hated it because it was so cold. We were traveling toward the end of winter, and as soon as we got off the plane, it was freezing cold.”

However, the overland journey to Yelabuga Reserve left a good first impression.

“I was very impressed. It was just as I had imagined. I saw a lot of factories, cars, and agricultural companies.”

Adau took three months of language classes before starting work in July. That’s when things started going downhill.

She says she and the other participants were not given a choice whether they wanted to work at a drone factory or not. They couldn’t even talk to their families about their work because they had signed non-disclosure agreements.

“We all had a lot of questions. We had signed up to work in technical areas such as production, operations, logistics and tower crane operations, but we all ended up working in a drone factory.”

Mr. Elabuga denies using deception to hire workers. “All the areas our participants are working on are listed on our website,” he said in response to our question.

Workers were not allowed to take photographs inside the facility, but the BBC showed Adaw a video broadcast by Russian state broadcaster RT showing Iran’s Shahed 136 drone being built at a factory in Elabuga. She admitted to us that she worked there.

“The reality of the Yelabuga SEZ is that it is a war production facility,” said Spencer Faragasso of the Institute for Science and International Security.

“Russia openly admits in the videos they have released that they are producing and manufacturing Shahed-136 drones there. They are bragging about this location and boasting about their achievements.”

A black drone with Russian writing on its wings lies on the grass. — photo caption, Russia has admitted that it manufactures the Shahed-136 drone, similar to the one shot down in Ukraine.

Spencer said that, like Arau, many of the women interviewed who worked on the program never thought they would end up making weapons.

“On the surface, for many of these women, this is a great opportunity to see the world, gain work experience and earn a living wage. But in reality, when they are brought to Elabuga, they are shocked to discover that those promises are not kept and the reality of their work is far from what was promised.”

Adau says he quickly realized he could not continue working at the factory.

“Everything started to make sense. All the lies that were being perpetrated on us from the moment we applied. I knew there was no way I could get away with lying to people like that. And I wanted to achieve something more with my life than working in a drone factory.”

He submitted his resignation but was told that he was given two weeks’ notice and that he would have to work during that time. At the time, he says, he applied chemicals to the exterior of the drone and burned his skin.

“When we got home and checked, the skin was peeling off. We were wearing protective clothing and white cloth coveralls, but the chemicals were seeping out. The fabric had become hard.”

Elabuga will ensure that all staff are provided with the necessary protective equipment.

A man stretches out his arms. There is dirt over a wide area. — photo caption, Addau’s colleague’s arm was burned by the chemical.

And that wasn’t the only danger. On April 2, 2024, just two weeks after Adau arrived in Russia, Yelabuga Special Economic Zone became the target of a Ukrainian drone attack.

“That day I woke up to a fire alarm, which was unusual. The windows upstairs in our hostel had been broken and some girls woke up to the explosion. So we went outside.”

As they started walking from the hostel in the cold morning air, Adau said she saw others running.

“I saw people looking up, so I looked up and saw a drone coming out of the sky. That’s when I started running too. I ran so fast that I left the people in front of me behind.”

The BBC reviewed the footage Adau sent us from the day of the attack and confirmed that it was filmed on the same day and in the same location as Ukraine’s deepest attack on Russian territory to date.

People panic and start running in the snow. A column of smoke rises in the background. — photo caption, A photo taken by Adau on the day of the Ukrainian drone attack.

“The drone destroyed the hostel next to us. That building was completely destroyed and our building was also damaged.”

Months later, when he learned he worked at a drone factory, he thought about the attack and realized why he had been targeted.

“Ukraine knew that the African girls who came to work at the drone factory were living in the hostels they attacked. That made the news. When Ukraine accused them of attacking civilian homes, they said, ‘No, those belong to the drone factory workers.’

Some women left the program without notice after the attack, and organizers temporarily confiscated the employees’ passports.

Asked why the attack on the hostel and reports that Yelabuga was a Russian drone production center did not arouse suspicion, Ms Adau explained that staff had repeatedly assured her that female employees would only work in the field for which they were hired.

“The accusation that we are producing drones seemed like anti-Russian propaganda,” he asserted.

“As for Russia, there is a lot of fake news trying to make Russia look bad. The special economic zones used to have people from Europe and America working there, but after the war between Ukraine and Russia, they all left because of the sanctions against Russia. So when Russia started looking for Africans to work there, it seemed like they just wanted to fill the positions that Europeans had left.”

A two-story building with Russian writing on the front that was destroyed by the explosion. — photo caption, On April 2, 2024, a building in Yelabuga was destroyed by a Ukrainian drone attack deep in Russian territory.

After Adau submitted her resignation, her family sent her a ticket to return home, but because her salary was much lower than advertised, many women were unable to afford the return flight and ended up stranded there. Adau was supposed to earn $600 a month, but received only one-sixth of that amount.

“They deducted our rent, Russian language lessons, Wi-Fi, transportation to work, and taxes from us. They told us that if we missed a day of work, they would deduct $50. If the alarm went off while we were cooking, they would deduct $60. If we didn’t turn in our homework in Russian class or missed class, they deducted it from our pay.”

program Elabuga start He told the BBC that his salary would depend in part on his performance and behavior at work.

We spoke to another woman on the show who asked not to be identified for fear of retaliation on social media. She says she had a more positive experience at Elabuga.

“To be honest, every company has rules. If you miss work or don’t perform well, how can you get paid in full? Everything is logical and no one is forced to do something they don’t want. Most of the girls who ended up leaving did not take time off work or follow the rules. Elabuga doesn’t hold anyone hostage, so you can quit at any time,” the anonymous woman told the BBC.

But Adau insists that working for the Russian war machine was devastating.

“I felt terrible. There were times when I would go back to the hostel and cry. I would say to myself, ‘I can’t believe this is what I’m doing.’ It was terrifying to be part of building something that would take so many lives.”