World’s largest drone factory in Russia train teenagers, produces most powerful suicidal drones to attack Ukraine, has this link with Iran

Ignoring the warnings of the West to stop the war, Russia has showcased its biggest drone factory which until now remained hidden from the world. This drone factory is located in Tatarstan’s Alabuga region in the Special Economic Zone. It is near the town of Yelabuga, which is over 1,000 km from the border with Ukraine. This factory is the center of Russia’s military campaigns which includes developing Geran-2 drones in large capacity. Geran-2 is the Russian version of the Iranian Shahed-136. The footage was shown on the Russian army's TV channel, Zvezda, on Sunday. The director of the facility described it as the world's biggest maker of strike drones.

Teenagers working in drone factory

The footage, a documentary film, showed hundreds of large black completed Geran-2 suicide drones in rows inside the secretive facility, which has been targeted by Ukrainian long-range drones. Zvezda said the Alabuga factory, in Russia's Tatarstan region, invited school pupils to study at a college the factory runs nearby once they had completed ninth grade (aged 14-15) so that they could study drone manufacturing there and then work at the factory when they had finished college.

Young workers, including teenagers, were shown with their faces blurred out, studying computer screens or making and testing individual components, or assembling drones.

More Geran drones

Timur Shagivaleyev, the factory's general director, told Zvezda the initial plan had been to produce "several thousand Geran-2 drones" and that the factory was now producing nine times more than that. A Russian think tank close to the government last month suggested Russia's drone production had jumped by 16.9% in May compared to the previous month after President Vladimir Putin called for output to be stepped up.

Both sides have deployed drones on a huge scale, using them to spot and hit targets not only on the battlefield but way beyond the front lines. Zvezda said the Alabuga factory had its own drone testing ground and showed rows of parked US RAM pickup trucks carrying Geran-2 drones.

Design of Geran-2 drones

The design of the Geran-2, which has a known range of at least 1,500 km (932 miles), originated in Iran where an earlier version was made. They have been used to target Ukrainian energy infrastructure. 


(With inputs from Reuters)