About 25,000 North Koreans are assembling drones in Russia. A large part of their salary is confiscated by the regime of dictator Kim Jong Un, announced the United Nations Organization.
Citizens from North Korea arrive in Moscow with student visas, to circumvent UN sanctions that prohibit the use of North Korean labor abroad. Thus, Pyongyang earns millions and Russia obtains new employees for its drone factories.
According to a document from the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team (MSMT) of the UN Security Council, between 15,000 and 30,000 North Korean workers were in Russia at the end of 2025. Approximately 1,000 of them were employed at strategically important facilities, including weapon factories, steel mills, and shipbuilding capacities.
In 2025, Russia issued over 36,400 visas for North Korean citizens, of which 35,800 were study visas, writes Antena3.
Workers from North Korea are now reportedly spread across Russia, from traditional employment areas in Vladivostok, Khabarovsk, and Sakhalin, to newer destinations such as Moscow, Saint Petersburg, and Irkutsk. Additionally, the Tatarstan region has become a new attraction for them. The city of Alabuga there is said to be the main location for drone assembly.
The working conditions for North Koreans in Russia are extremely harsh and are completely controlled by the authorities in Pyongyang. The average annual salary of these workers is around 6600 euros, but almost everything is confiscated by Pyongyang.
North Korean workers live under the constant surveillance of North Korean security services: their movements are strictly restricted, contact with Russian citizens is prohibited, and they are housed in closed dormitories, where outsiders have no access.