Alabuga Polytechnic University based in Jelabuga, educates in several fields, mainly technical ones, and cooperates with the special economic zone “Alabuga”, which advertises itself on its website as “the best in Europe“.
According to the forbidden in Russia Nastoyashchee Vremya television, students are employed there as part of internships assembly of drones for war useand after completing the internship, they are offered a job.
The assembly plant in Yelabug has been operating since 2023 – initially it assembled drones from Iranian componentsbut every month it uses more and more Russian parts.
Recruitment of teenagers to assemble attack drones
Russia recruits foreigners from all over the world to work in the factory, including from African countries, as well as from Kirgistanu i Sri Lanka, i uses teenagers' labor, often forced labor – says Nastoyashchee Vremya.
W advertising brochurewhich representatives of Ałabuga Politech distribute to students and students of… Kazakhstanit is written that the factory associated with the university will employ people every teenager from Kazakhstan over the age of 14. It is clearly written there that the work will be performed in a factory producing combat drones for the Russian army. “Assembly of attack drones, that destroy the enemy is wonderful” – argue the authors of the leaflet.
Using the telephone number provided in the leaflet, Nastoyashchee Vremya journalists obtained confirmation from the university authorities that students were being recruited to a military factory. – We don't cheat them. They know everything. We have people from the CIS countries, from all over Russia, who want to study with us – they heard.
Russian investigative journalists have obtained information showing that factory workers, both Russian and foreign, complain that they receive salary lower than promisedare forced to overtimeand the working conditions are called “slaves“. Students it is forbidden disseminating information about studies and work under threat expulsion from the university and high financial penalties.
Russia's neighbor remains indifferent
The Kazakh authorities did not comment so far, there have been reports about the distribution of brochures of universities in Astana and generally about the recruitment of Kazakh youth to military factories in Russia – claims Nastoyashchee Vremya and reminds that Astana has not officially supported, but also did not condemn the invasion Russia to Ukraine and maintains very good relations with the Kremlin.
– We see that The Kremlin he wants to bind everyone with blood. This is a hidden attempt to indirectly link citizens of other countries with this war – explains Arman Szorajew, opposition journalist and social activist from Kazakhstan. He adds that there is a factory producing drones legal military target of Ukraine.
In April 2024, Ukrainian drones hit one of the residential buildings in the “Alabuga” complex, the media reported 14 people injured.