Russia is increasingly recruiting North Korean citizens to manufacture drones used in its war against Ukraine. Up to 25,000 North Korean citizens may be working in Russia’s UAV industry, Bloomberg reported, citing a report by the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team, which includes the United States and its allies.
The document mentions facilities in Alabuga, Tatarstan, where drones are assembled. At the same time, the estimate of 25,000 people refers to the potential number of North Korean citizens involved in Russia’s drone industry.
Workers’ earnings and foreign currency revenues for Pyongyang
According to the monitoring team’s assessment, North Korean workers abroad earned up to $800 million for Kim Jong Un’s regime in 2025.
As stated in the report, these funds provide Pyongyang with additional financial resources to develop its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes, in violation of UN Security Council resolutions.
On average, a North Korean worker in Russia earns about $7,500 a year, but according to the report, the regime confiscates most of this amount. In some cases, the sum taken by the North Korean authorities may even exceed the worker’s actual earnings.
The monthly income of North Koreans working in Russia can be up to five times higher than what they could earn in China. This makes Russia a more profitable destination for Pyongyang.
Visa scheme and military cooperation
The report also claims that North Korean workers in Russia are disguised as students as part of a visa scheme aimed at circumventing sanctions.
The recruitment of North Korean workers means that military ties between Moscow and Pyongyang extend beyond arms supplies and troop deployments. Russia receives labour for industries linked to the war against Ukraine, while the North Korean regime gains access to foreign currency.
In August, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that North Korea had supplied Russia with new ballistic missiles. Earlier, he stated that Russia was preparing to deploy another roughly 30,000 troops from North Korea.
The deputy chief of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine also reported that, as of August 2026, a North Korean contingent of 8,500 personnel had been deployed in Russia, including 400 drone operators.
