Russia Employs 25,000 North Koreans to Build Military Drones

The Government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is utilizing a vast network of forced and fraudulent labor to fund its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. A report from the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team reveals that Russia is employing up to 25,000 North Korean workers to manufacture military drones for the war against Ukraine. These laborers, some based in Alabuga, Tatarstan, are disguised as students under a fake visa scheme to evade international sanctions.

These operations generated an estimated US$800 million for the regime in 2025. While workers earn an average of US$7,500 annually, the government confiscates most of these wages. Beyond factory work, the regime has deployed approximately 16,000 soldiers to Russia, with South Korean intelligence estimating 2,000 casualties. Thousands of other citizens work 14-hour shifts in Russian construction and factories under fraudulent visas.

Under the direction of Kim Jong Un, the regime also exploits domestic labor camps to produce hair products for export to China and employs miners in hazardous conditions. Additionally, state-sponsored hackers and IT workers stole 76 percent of all cryptocurrency globally in early 2026. These activities are facilitated by Russia and China, which have ignored or dismantled United Nations sanctions monitoring to enable the trade of coal, oil, and labor.