Russia recruits young African women to produce kamikaze drones Shahed- How 18-year-olds arrive overnight to “serve” the Russian army
Russia is deceptively recruiting young women from Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya, South Sudan, Sierra Leone and Nigeria, as well as Sri Lankan nationals, to build Shahed kamikaze drones.
Young unsuspecting African women are promised well-paying jobs with free flights and hostel accommodation, then taken to Tatarstan’s Alabuga Special Economic Zone (SEZ), where the Shahed drones are manufactured, the Associated Press (AP) reported today.
The AP report states that approximately 200 women from the aforementioned countries, mostly aged 18-22, are currently working in drone production in Alabuga.
The production also employs students, some of whom are as young as 16.
It also tells the story of a young African woman who, according to what she stated, was trapped in Alabuga. Flying from her home country, she documented her journey in photos she posted on social media, one of which she captioned with the word “Europe”. Now in the drone industry, the young woman says she “curses the day she started assembling these things.”
Workers are under constant video surveillance both in the dormitory and at work, the shifts are long – 12 hours each – and the pay is significantly lower than promised: $500 instead of $700. The company’s management discourages women from returning to work. their homeland, as they face problems recruiting staff even for unskilled jobs.
The Russian Foreign Ministry, the head of Tatarstan Rustam Minikhanov and Alabuga general manager Timur Saghivaleyev did not respond to questions from the AP news agency about the African workers’ complaints. Most of the 22 countries whose nationals work in Alabuga either did not respond or promised to “look into the matter”.
In turn, Ravina Samdasani, a spokeswoman for the UN Human Rights Office, said Russia’s actions “could possibly meet the criteria of human trafficking” if the girls are being fraudulently recruited for the purpose of exploitation.
In April, Alabuga was attacked by Ukrainian drones, injuring six people, including two teenagers. A total of three drones struck the special economic zone, damaging two guesthouse buildings.
Source :Skai
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