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.
