Russian trap: How African women were duped into exploitative slave-like labour

Russia’s trap that has drawn African women into slave-like labour at its Special Economic Zone, about 800 miles south-east of Moscow, is emerging as yet another problem Moscow has created for the African continent.

It is emerging that some of the young women duped into working in war factories have begun to escape, finding their way back to their countries in Africa, The Sunday Standard has learnt.

Revelations about the escapees, none of them Kenyans as yet, add to the tribulations the continent is facing in its relations with Russia after hundreds of its sons are reported to have been killed in the Russian war against Ukraine.

Early this past week in Nairobi, several families who had lost their sons in Russia, led by the rights group Vocal Africa, cried out for help, demanding assistance from the Kenyan government to have the bodies of their loved ones brought back home for burial.

In the conflict with Ukraine, more than 100 young African women, among them 24 Kenyans, have been duped into serving in menial jobs in war factories based in the Republic of Tatarstan in Russia, making Shahed-type drones.

The women were lured to Russia through lofty promises, mostly made online, by a programme called Alabuga Start, which promised training opportunities in Russian institutions and jobs in hospitality and other sectors that would pay them at least 50,000 roubles (Sh86,000) a month.

A source who once worked for the Alabuga Start recruitment syndicate on the African continent and who requested anonymity told The Sunday Standard that the programme has been preying on young Ethiopian, Kenyan, Ugandan and South African women, ensnaring them with promises of educational opportunities and jobs in the hospitality industry.

“For now, I cannot share with you the names of the girls who have escaped as they are too scared. I know many from East Africa are still stuck in Alabuga and at other sites in Russia. Hundreds of girls have left for Russia for this programme that is supposed to last two years, yet only a few have returned,” said the source.

He said that after landing in Russia, the young women, aged between 18 and 24, were herded into forced labour in war factories.

“In my previous role, I was involved in promoting the Alabuga Start programme, which preys on Ethiopian, Kenyan, Ugandan and South African girls,” the man said in response to questions.

He added, “It lures them to Russia, all the way to Tatarstan, with the promise of a well-paying job and education. Instead, these girls are forced into making weapons, harassed and worked to exhaustion.”

In Moscow’s strategy in the war against Ukraine, it has targeted jobless youth in the Global South, using underhand recruitment methods to draw women into labour in war factories making weapons, even as it ensnares young African men into its army to serve as expendables on the war front.

According to the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), the majority of the drones used against Ukraine last year were manufactured in the Alabuga Special Economic Zone.

Throughout 2025, there were virtually no days without night-time and large-scale air attacks by Russian forces using hundreds of Shahed-type unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), combined with ballistic and cruise missile strikes launched from various regions of Russia and occupied territories such as Crimea and Donetsk, ISIS said in its latest report published on January 22.

The number of UAVs launched in attacks ranged from dozens to more than 800.

According to Ukrainian data, the total number of Shahed-type UAVs launched by Russia in 2025 was 54,538, including about 32,200 Shahed-type strike UAVs reportedly manufactured under the Alabuga programme

Notable large-scale attacks included the strike on December 6, 2025, on Ukraine, which involved 653 Shahed-type UAVs, including more than 300 Shahed and Gerber strike UAVs.

Another attack on October 30 involved 653 Shahed-type UAVs, while a strike in July used 728 Shahed UAVs. The largest attack, on September 7, used 823 air attack vehicles, including 810 Shahed-type UAVs.

Most of the strikes targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and, as winter set in, many people struggled to heat their homes.

The BBC reported on Friday morning that in Kyiv alone, nearly 6,000 buildings lacked electricity, making it difficult to heat houses and offices.

“More than making drones, I can attest that many of these girls are raped and sold into prostitution.

‘‘ I know of a few who have escaped and returned home, but many more are trapped in this nightmare,” said the former Alabuga Start recruiter, who now runs a campaign dubbed Stop Alabuga to raise awareness about coercive recruitment of African women into near slave labour.