Ghana and the Democratic Republic of the Congo signed fresh labor agreements in late October with Russia’s Alabuga Special Economic Zone, the same industrial complex a Ukrainian watchdog says is tied to a recruitment network pulling young African women into Moscow’s military-industrial workforce.
The deals land months after Britain sanctioned individuals and entities connected to the Alabuga Start recruitment program over deceptive practices used to lure foreign labor into facilities that produce military drones.
The Ukrainian Security and Cooperation Centre says it has obtained internal documents identifying roughly 50 African women working at Alabuga, along with 10 Russian recruiters and two African intermediaries allegedly involved in bringing foreign workers into the program.
“What we were able to do is basically to obtain internal documentation,” Solomiya Khoma, the organization’s head of international cooperation, told Fox News Digital.
Khoma said her group’s investigation went further than prior reporting by tracing how recruitment allegedly works across borders, linking Russian cultural organizations, local intermediaries and Alabuga’s human resources department. “Our case is specifically related to African countries,” she said.
How the Network Allegedly Works
According to the report, the recruitment system runs on three levels: Russian cultural and educational organizations building relationships with young people in Africa, local recruiters promoting job opportunities abroad, and Alabuga staff arranging the actual employment and logistics once recruits arrive.
The investigation names two women, from Tunisia and Uganda, as alleged recruitment coordinators with ties to Russian HR personnel and foreign employees. Fox News Digital has not independently verified their specific activities.
Khoma said part of the findings came from a confidential source still working inside the Alabuga complex. “This person is still continuing to work in the Alabuga economical zone and these factories,” she said, explaining why the source’s identity could not be disclosed. She said investigators also obtained internal employee passes and other identifying information on the workers.
Researchers also looked at Russian cultural organizations, including councils of Russian compatriots and the Russkiy Mir Foundation, and their role in promoting educational and employment opportunities in African countries. The report cites a September 2024 cooperation memorandum between the Russian compatriots’ council in Tunisia and Alabuga, plus Russian cultural activity in Uganda. The investigation does not establish that Russian diplomats or cultural organizations knowingly steered recruits into military drone production.
Promises of Education, Factory Work Instead
The findings build on an Associated Press investigation from October 2024, which found African women recruited with promises of education and civilian jobs were instead assigned to build Iranian-designed attack drones, some describing long hours, lower pay than promised, surveillance and exposure to hazardous chemicals.
Khoma described a pattern in which women arrive expecting to combine schooling with paid work. “These people are promised a dual education opportunity,” she said. When they fail entrance exams or Russian-language requirements, she alleged, they often lack the money to go home and end up working the factory floor instead.
On May 5, 2026, the British government sanctioned seven individuals and entities tied to Alabuga Start, accusing the program of using deceptive recruitment tactics to supply labor for military drone production.
Deals Keep Coming
Despite that scrutiny, African governments are still signing on. Ghanaian broadcaster Citi News reported October 29 that Labor Minister Emmanuel Agyekum signed an agreement with Alabuga to facilitate industrial employment for Ghanaian citizens, with the ministry saying it would coordinate recruitment, verify job offers and provide pre-departure orientation.
CongoRassure reported October 30 that the Democratic Republic of the Congo signed a five-year memorandum focused on vocational training and strengthening employment institutions.
Neither agreement, as publicly described, shows either government intended to send workers into military production.
Khoma is calling for sanctions aimed directly at the recruitment networks, including intermediaries, financial channels and the organizations facilitating the foreign labor pipeline. She argued Russia’s push to recruit abroad reflects labor shortages in its wartime economy and offers another lever for international pressure.
“Without this effort abroad, without this help abroad, it would be difficult for Russia to sustain a war longer,” Khoma said.
Fox News Digital has reached out for comment to Alabuga, the Russian Foreign Ministry, and government representatives in Ghana, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Tunisia.
