A Russian television interviewer warns, “You know, everything you use on us will be used against you,” Timur Shagivaev, the man behind one of the nation’s largest drone factories.

Shagivaleev is not embarrassed to discuss the details of the plant, but answers with a rebellious quote attributed to the Soviet World War II hero. “You have no right to fear.”

Standing at an Arabga factory in a row of distinctive black, triangular Iranian-designed attack drones (known as “gelans” in Russian), he has every reason to be encouraged.

Satellite images show construction is rapidly accelerating at sites in southern Russia. Dozens of new buildings, including those that experts believe are new dorms and production facilities, have rapidly taken shape since the snow melted this winter.

It is considered to be Russia’s main attack drone factory. This is an important part of the Kremlin’s escalate drone attack on Ukrainian cities. There is also evidence that the site is currently drafting teenagers not only for Arabga drone assemblies but also for construction work.

Moscow is currently choosing to publish its factories and its contributions to Russia’s war efforts. Shagivaleev, director of Alabuga, appeared in Docuseries “Military Acceptance,” which aired on July 20th on the Russian Ministry of Defense’s TV channel Zvezda.

The programme suggests that Arabga, which has been driving away Iran-designed Shahed drones for almost three years, has moved entirely from an Iranian franchise to a fully localized production line. Expansions are happening so quickly, experts say the ultimate goal of the site may be to mass-produce drones for global exports.

Former United Nations Weapons Inspector David Albright is head of the Institute for International Science and Security (ISIS), a US-based think tank that has been tracking Arabga’s expansion since 2022.

He told CNN that Moscow’s decision to lift the lid at the factory indicates that “Russian authorities are more confident in their ability to make drones.”

“I think it represents the Russian government working to increase production there.

Alabuga began production of Shahed Drones in 2023, but there are also some inexpensive versions (known as “Gerbera”) designed to function as decoys.

The site was already expanding as Russian drone attacks began to rise last August. However, recent satellite images reveal even faster growth in the past few months as drone strikes in Ukraine hit record numbers.

Between the latter half of 2024 and mid-July this year, satellite images show at least eight new warehouse-like structures in Alabuga, close to the building previously identified as a Shahed manufacturing facility. Some are still under construction.

Even more surprising, images and ISIS expert CNN analysis identified what appears to be a major expansion of the site’s workers’ housing.

Images from July 12 show at least 104 identical rectangular buildings fully or partially constructed, with similar footprints to existing structures known to be workers’ dormitories. Images from February showed only 15 such buildings. Work on the new building appears to have begun in earnest in March as spring arrived and the snow disappeared.

There are also signs that construction has accelerated over the last few weeks. More than half of the construction of the residential units visible on July 12th was not on June 9th.

Stroytrest Alabuga, who is responsible for construction at the site, removed some of the detailed plans for the major residential complex, known as “Europa Hostels,” in mid-July, but an internal presentation document, released on July 4, appears to mark the “second phase” of construction. CNN geolocated the drone visuals included in the presentation to Alabuga.

The team at ISIS’s Albright, a US think tank, rated the building as capable of holding up to 40,000 workers when it’s finished. He represents “a rather significant increase in drone production,” he says.

The current production numbers of Arabga remain a closely held secret. “We once had plans to produce thousands of ‘zera’,” Shagivaleev said in an interview with Zvezda without specifying a period. “Now we’re producing nine more times than originally planned.”

In December, CNN reported that Arabga produced more than 5,700 Shahed drones from January to September 2023. This is more than twice the number produced in 2023. According to Ukrainian defence sources, the facility was aiming for 10,000 Gerbera decoid drones in 2024.

“Boys and Girls”

Alabuga’s ever-growing production goals have long presented staff issues.

CNN previously detailed the practice of recruiting African women through Arab Ga Polytech College and African women through foreign outreach schemes to meet the chronic workforce shortages in Russia that have been exacerbated by the war in Ukraine.

Shagivaleev was approved by the US Treasury in 2024 in part in its relationship with “exploitation of minor students who assemble these UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles or drones).”

Zvezda’s documentary doesn’t gloss this. The host refers to “boys and girls” who work in the factory, saying, “They invite school children right after their ninth grade, and after graduating from university, they call them to plants.” Children in Russia are usually 15 years old, finishing their ninth grade.

Now there is evidence that Alabuga brings these and other students to construction as well as the construction work. On July 4th, a summer camp called “Alabuga Build” officially opened doors on its site, following a post on its Vkontakte account (or VK, the Russian Facebook version).

The tents for students staying, which have not been seen anywhere on satellite images since June 9th, were fully on display as of July 12th.

The camp is organized by the “Russian Student Brigade.” It claims to be the country’s largest youth organization, and according to the Arabga Ministry of Education, it drafted about 2,500 students to build a residential complex called the “Mediterranean Park” in Arabga.

In one of the clips on the VK page of the camp, a young man in a khaki jacket offers a sarcastic tour of the tent, attempting to make virtue from basic conditions. “Here is the flat screen plasma TV,” he says, showing off a basic white cupboard outside the dark green tent with the number “65.” “CD, DVD, console,” he continues, picking up the fire.

Zvezda’s documentary suggests that Alabuga is now a completely self-sufficient production line.

“It comes in aluminum bars and the engines are made from them. The microelectronics are made from electric chips. The fuselage is made from carbon fiber and glass fiber. That is, it is total localization.”

“Exactly such projects should be the basis for our country’s technical sovereignty, so that they do not depend on anyone,” the host added.

The image of the program showing Shahed Engines manufactured by Alabuga was a surprise to several experts CNN spoke to.

Fabian Hinz, a researcher at the London-based Institute for International Strategy, said: “And that was a big question about whether Russians could build their own engines. At least this documentary seems to imply that they could do it.

Albright, a former UN weapons inspector, said manufacturing appears to be on the way, rather than assembling it on the site. “Our understanding was that they might assemble the engine in Arabga, but they had contracted for parts that needed to be cast.

Albright said Russia plans to not only equip the Arabga with Russian troops, but ultimately sell the drones to foreign customers. This suggests that Zvezda’s documentary is just as much an advertisement aimed at future buyers as it is a program designed to scare Ukrainians.

Other countries are producing their own versions of shades, Hintz adds, but “Russia’s country is up to date with regard to electronic measures, for example. So I think that’s a big selling point.”

Kiev also openly suggests that Russia may have transferred technology to North Korea to produce a version of Shahed, part of a rapidly expanding military partnership with Pyongyang.

“The longer this war continues in our territory, the more advanced our war technology will be and the greater the threat to everyone,” Ukrainian President Voldimi Zelensky warned in June. “This has to be addressed now, not when thousands of upgraded “Sharp”, drones and ballistic missiles began to threaten Seoul and Tokyo. ”

CNN contacted both Arabga and the Russian Ministry of Defense to ask about the purpose of the expansion on the site and whether it is relocating Shahed technology to North Korea. Neither responds.

Destruction and sleepless night

According to a CNN analysis of the Ukrainian Air Force Report, in June 2025 alone, Russia fired nearly 5,500 Sharp or similar drones in Ukraine. This is 16 times the number in June 2024, with an increase of over 30% in the previous month.

On July 9th, a record 728 drones were fired in Ukraine in one night.

The distinctive cry of Moscow’s escalating air force and Schedes now drives Ukrainians out of their near-equivalent beds into shelters and metro stations.

“When we’re at home, we’re always hiding behind two walls,” Oleksandr Krupnyk, the father of three in Kiev, told CNN. “We put the middle child in the bathtub and in a bean bag chair in the bathroom, and placed it on a mattress in the hallway.

Krupnyk and his family have promised to stay in the country and do their part, but he admits that the unmanned attacks in Russia are almost permanent disruptions in everyday life.

“A constant lack of sleep slows you down, makes you irritate and reduces your endurance,” he explained, adding that his children are struggling with their studies and are asking them not to go to school.

“Except for a deep ending with this ‘Sharp’ obsession and fear,” Zelensky said Tuesday.

The president added that Ukraine is not only pushing for more air defenses from its allies, but also continues its own deep attacks on Russian territory.

Haiti has dispatched 150 soldiers to train in Mexico as the Caribbean country is tackling rampaging gang violence.

The military will depart Port-au-Prince on Thursday and spend the next three months on training courses in Mexico.

A total of 700 Haitian soldiers will eventually join the program.

Haiti Prime Minister Alix Didier Philz Aimé said the initiative is part of a broader roadmap focusing on restoring security, revitalizing public institutions and setting up elections.

“It shows the government’s firm determination to restore Republican order, restore national authorities across the country and ensure protection for all citizens,” a statement from the government read.

Mexican security forces have extensive experience in fighting criminal groups, particularly international drug cartels, but these efforts have not been able to significantly reduce violence and murder rates.

CNN has contacted the Mexican government for further details on how to train Haitian military.

In Haiti, gang attacks have killed and injured thousands of people in recent years. It is estimated that more than 80% of the capital, Port-au-Prince, is under gang control, and around 1.3 million people have been displaced internally across the country due to violence, the United Nations said.

Haiti has repeatedly called for international support as it has little effect on restoring security.

Last year, we welcomed hundreds of Kenyan police officers from the US-funded Multinational Security Assistance Mission (MSS). At least two Kenyan officers have been killed and the violence has not been mitigated.

Since the arrival of the MSS, gangs have spread more and more rural areas, grabbing the territory strips of the agriculturally important Artibonite region. Armed attacks in the region last week uprooted another 15,000 people, the United Nations said.

Mexico City
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The Mexican and US governments signed a memorandum on Thursday to fund and promote several wastewater treatment projects in the Tijuana River Basin.

The untreated wastewater constantly affects residents living along the rivers that pass from Tijuana across the border through several neighbours in San Diego’s southern part. Residents living along the river have long fought serious health issues that researchers say stem from river pollution.

One research team based at the University of California, San Diego has discovered trace amounts of waterborne chemicals from tires, personal care products, and even illicit drugs found in the Tijuana River have been introduced into the air.

At the event celebrated in Mexico City on Thursday, the national resources of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Director Lee Zeldin and Mexican Environment Secretary Alicia Barcena, Mexico, agreed to a series of actions that both governments should take by 2027, addressing the deteriorating wastewater treatment crisis.

The agreement provides for both Mexico and the United States to recommit to funding the construction and renovation of water treatment infrastructure on both sides of the border. This document also accelerates several projects to be completed over the next two years.

“In fact, what we’re doing is trying to solve all the problems with wastewater from the Tijuana River once,” Barcena said in a speech Thursday.

Zeldin agreed, saying the agreement represents “a huge victory for millions of Americans and Mexicans.” He pointed out that President Trump’s clear interest in the issue and that by dealing with the water pollution crisis, it would ensure a safer environment for training residents and naval seals on nearby beaches.

Former Commissioner of the International Water and Boundary Commission (IBWC) Maria Elena Zinner called “great news” to reaffirm commitments by US and Mexican officials in the 328th minute, and outlines how Mexico and the US share the costs of operating and maintaining water treatment infrastructure at their borders.

Funding for wastewater treatment facilities and their continued operation have pose constant challenges. The agreement sets expectations for construction and rehabilitation projects that are not yet funded. However, given Barcena and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum’s Morena Party currently control the country’s parliament, it is possible that funds will be allocated in the 2026 and 2027 budgets.

At a daily press conference with the Mexican president on Friday, Barcena noted that the US and Mexico are working to secure contracts that cover half of the upgrades of the key San Antonio de los Buenos treatment plant, each located southwest of Tijuana. She estimates that improvements to the project alone would cost $67 million or P1.2 billion.

Venice
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The abandoned island of Pobeglia – the location of the Plague Pit and the Old Asylum – is about to assume a happier new identity.

On August 1, a group of Venetians embark on a project that owns an apparently ghost island from the Italian province under a 99-year lease and transforms it into an urban park that is open only to the residents of Italian cities.

Locals fought tough competition with real estate developers to ensure Poveglia remains a public property.

In 2014, the island, about 7.5 hectares (18.5 acres) in size, the southern island of Venice Ragoon, has been auctioned by Italian provincial real estate agencies and opened to developers who were seduced by peaceful and convenient locations just three miles from St. Mark’s Square.

Several consortiums raised money to buy it, including one linked to current mayor of Venice, Luigi Burgnaro.

Terrified by the prospect of an island being sold to a private buyer, Patrizia Veklani formed a group, Poveglia Per Tutti (Poveglia) to try to save an island on the government’s auction list and an island like it.

The group, which has over 4,500 members, was able to raise 460,000 euros ($539,000) and secured a lease.

“It wasn’t just rage, it was psychologically traumatizing to realize that we could break up the city and sell it to the highest bidders and sell it without a plan without a start price. It’s as if Rome had decided to sell the Trevi Fountain.

Veclani told CNN on Friday that her group viewed this as a small victory in reclaiming longtime problem Venice from Westernism.

An estimated 30 million tourists visit the city every year to warn locals. This has fallen to under 50,000 despite efforts by authorities to limit visitor numbers through measures such as the 2021 cruise ship ban, including the daytripper’s 5 euro ($5.86) bill introduced last year.

“The island would have been less popular than elsewhere,” Veklani said, “But keeping this small space just for the Venetians is a victory.”

Overgrown forests, military fortresses, 15 aged hospital buildings, and everything that remains of the island with rather large colonies of rabbits, the group says.

Pobeglia’s eerie history dates back to the outbreak of a Bo plague in the 18th century, brought to Venice by fleas on merchant ships at the time when the city was the center of international trade.

As the plague spread, the island was converted into maritime quarantine docks for merchant ships and people with symptoms arriving from overseas.

Prior to that, it was home to farmers and fishermen and was established in 421 AD as a Roman military base.

The island’s farm buildings and military barracks were transformed into dormitories, and the sick lived together and received primitive treatments like blood.

As the plague spread, the dead were buried in large graves. Venetian historians estimate that over 160,000 people were buried on the island between the 18th and 19th centuries.

In the 19th century, Pobeglia became an exile for the mentally ill and was often detained and subjected to experimental treatment.

The asylum was closed in 1968 and the island has been uninhabited ever since.

Pobeglia’s sad history has led to her belief that it is a ghost.

Modern ghost hunters, including the American television series Ghost Adventure, have visited the island over the years to further spread the myth.

“The island is becoming famous by foreigners looking for something to exploit,” Massimo Pera, the group’s patron, told CNN.

“The memories of the island are soaked in pain, but we turn them into places of joy.”

The renovation of the island without electricity and running water is led by the APSYM Institute of Human Sciences at the University of Verona.

They were the worst 125 days of his life. He is said to have been trapped in a foreign prison and tortured.

Jerce Reyes said he felt like a “living dead” within El Salvador’s terrorist confinement centre, along with 251 other Venezuelan immigrants. They were deported from the United States after being accused of gang involvement. This is an allegation that Reyes and many others have denied.

Reyes described the four-month detention at CECOT as painful as detainees were frequently beaten by security guards, unable to communicate with their families, lacking access to lawyers, and prison officials told the “hell hell” was their permanent home.

CNN contacted President Salvador to comment on immigrant abuse allegations, but has not yet been responded. In the past, the government has respected the human rights of people in detention “regardless of nationality,” and said its prison system complies with standards of security and order.

Amidst so much uncertainty in the prison, Reyes said he clung to the scattered rays of hope that he was hoping to. The chief among them was his faith.

Talked to CNN from Machiques in Venezuela, days after 252 immigrants were released in prison exchange, Reyes said prayers helped him the most.

“I often prayed to God. “He hears my prayers, hears my mother’s prayers… Hear the prayers of my family, all the families here. You know that you will hear their prayers. Get out of here,” he said.

He read the Bible frequently. This is one of the few items inmates have been given to their cells. Before going to bed, he also said he asked God to send him a sign in his dream to know if he would leave prison.

“And I dreamed of being on the football field, specifically at the sports centre in town,” he said.

He also dreamed of his daughters Cara and Isabela. “I had my youngest daughter already grown up and dreamed that she would already go to school, and I said, ‘That’s a sign. I know I’ll come here because I’ll see her at school.” ”

Reyes said that the unwavering sense of optimism, the traits he described, were part of his character, and that elevated the spirit of his fellow detainees.

But that hilarious thinking was often tested, he said, because when he and his mobile were hit by security guards, they often do not rely on Cecot’s strict rules.

They were allowed to take one shower a day at about 4am, using the same water they drank. On a hot day, he said he took a shower to keep him cool when he was not allowed. The guards caught him, entered the cell, beat him, and sent him into a small, isolated cell as punishment, he said.

Several butlers who recently spoke to CNN gave similar explanations. They claim to have been beaten by security guards frequently and shot with rubber bullets to stage hunger strikes.

“We continued on strike as we communicated with other families and demanded that we know what was going on,” Reyes said.

Reyes said he left Venezuela last year due to financial insecurity and applied for asylum in the United States in December. However, in March, the US Department of Homeland Security accused him of being illegally in the country and belonging to infamous gangster Tren de Aragua, claiming he had a tattoo “consistent with what indicates membership in the TDA gang.”

Rays denies this. He says that the tattoo he clearly guilty of represents his favorite team, Real Madrid.

CNN confirmed that Reyes had no criminal history in his home country. His tattoo artist says that in 2018, when Trende Aragua is little known within Venezuela, he was unknown overseas.

Reyes was one of the first groups of Venezuelan immigrants on March 16th. In the first two weeks they were completely blocked from the outside world and didn’t know if anyone else was aware of their situation, he says.

However, at the end of March, a second group of Venezuelan detainees arrived from the United States. From them, Reyes learns for the first time that their stories are attracting global attention and their relatives are fighting desperately for their release.

He recalled that one of the new arrivals said: “People are moving outside with us. Your sister, your mother, and your aunt have done TV interviews. And people are moving for us.”

Reyes said the news gave everyone hope and made them forget the initial warnings of prison staff, at least for now.

Two months after detention, when detainees were visited by members of the Red Cross, there was another hopeful dispatch. The organization was in contact with the family and gave prisoners the first actual communication line with the outside world.

Reyes said detainees relayed a short message through the organization, made notes on what they said and delivered it to their families.

“I told my sister – I cried – and I said to her, ‘Care my dad, my dad, my daughter. We’ll leave soon, we’ll see each other soon, we’ll be together.’ It was a short message,” he said.

Also, according to Reyes, they knew their families hadn’t forgotten them, so they gave them another reason to continue.

Their last indication of hope was when their treatment suddenly changed about a week ago. They were no longer screaming or being beaten, the immigrants said. Instead, they were given new haircuts, better food, and fresh clothes.

Last Friday around 2am, senior officers entered the ward and told me they had 20 minutes in the shower. They were back home.

“And then everyone started screaming, everyone started crying. I started crying and we cried because we already felt we were on the way,” Reyes told CNN.

Caracas and Washington have cast a contract to guarantee the release of all 252 Venezuelan immigrants from El Salvador in exchange for 10 American citizens and dozens of political prisoners held in Venezuela.

The migrants arrived in Venezuela Friday night and were checked for health, immigration and criminal history for several days, among other procedures. By Monday, some were gradually allowed to reunite with families across the country.

Reyes returned to Mahaak on Tuesday night and was greeted by a roaring crowd of about 600 people, including relatives and neighbors. They decorated his home with hand-drawn banners and soccer-themed balloon arrangements from his favorite club Real Madrid.

The crowd chanted his name, cried out, and bubbled, throwing bubbles into the air as Reyes embraced her mother, Antonia, and her daughter, Cara. He then went to the back of the house and greeted his father, saying, “It’s me, dad. I’m fine. I’ll come back and I’ll never leave again.”

Reyes said he went home because the man had changed.

When asked if he had a message to President Donald Trump, whose immigration crackdown led to his imprisonment, Reyes again cites lessons he learned from the Bible.