Key facts
- Russia is using North Korean laborers on student visas to manufacture military drones, violating international sanctions.
- The Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team, a group of 11 countries including the US, monitors sanctions evasion against North Korea.
- The scheme generates revenue for North Korea that could fund its weapons programs.
- An estimated 15,000 to 30,000 North Korean workers were illegally employed in Russia in 2025.
- The Alabuga drone plant in Tatarstan is one location where these drones are manufactured.
- North Korea's illicit overseas labor program generated between $450 million and $800 million in 2025.
Russia is increasingly utilizing North Korean laborers under a student visa scheme to illicitly manufacture military drones, a practice that violates international sanctions against Pyongyang, according to a report released on September 16 by the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team. This group, comprising 11 nations including the United States, oversees compliance with UN sanctions targeting North Korea and its partners.
The report details how Russia "created a student visa scheme to camouflage North Korean laborers in Russia as students." This initiative is seen as a revenue stream for North Korea, potentially financing its "unlawful weapons programs." The report further states that Russia and North Korea have developed a "comprehensive ecosystem of state-led sanctions evasion activities and corruption," which includes using student and tourist visas instead of work permits, altering Russian laws to permit income generation for those on student visas, and engaging in bribery of Russian universities.
In 2025, an estimated 15,000 to 30,000 North Korean workers were employed illegally in Russia. The majority were reportedly involved in the manufacturing of military drones for Russia on Russian territory, with the Alabuga drone plant in Tatarstan identified as a key facility. The illicit overseas labor program is estimated to have generated between $450 million and $800 million for Pyongyang in 2025 alone, with each illegally employed worker generating approximately $7,500 in annual wages.
Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, North Korea has become a close ally, being the only country to have officially sent troops to support Russia's war effort and supplying substantial military equipment, including ballistic missiles, artillery shells, and rocket launchers. In April, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inaugurated a museum dedicated to North Korean soldiers who fought alongside Russian forces.