Russian state media has broadcast new footage from a major drone production facility in Yelabuga, Tatarstan, where Iranian-designed Shahed-136 drones, rebranded by Russia as the Geran-2, are being manufactured. 

The defense ministry-produced video constitutes a very rare look inside one of Russia’s main secretive drone assembly plants, which plays a critical role in supplying UAVs for ongoing strikes in Ukraine. Suicide drones connected to the particular plant featured have been deployed literally in the tens of thousands across Ukraine over the course of the war.

Situated roughly 1,700 kilometers from Ukraine's border, the complex contains multiple assembly lines and hundreds of ready-to-deploy drones.

The footage shows drones being painted matte black, which is believed to reduce visibility during night operations and make them harder for Ukrainian air defense units to detect. These drones have increasingly been utilized in nighttime operations, and Russia has been sending hundreds nightly against Ukrainian cities.

One controversial aspect of the report is the apparent use of teenage labor for some aspects of the drone plant.

The facility employs teenage students from the nearby Alabuga Polytechnic College, which is located within the same industrial zone - as the drone factory allows students to gain some hands-on technical skills.

Western commentators have seized on the youth labor aspect to the drone assembly plant...

One regional media source lists the following specifications for the Geran-2 drones:

The Alabuga facility began operations in 2023 and was designed for the large-scale manufacturing of the Geran-2, after Russia obtained and began mass deploying the Iran-made Shahed-136 drones from Iran. Likely, Ukraine is increasingly going to try targeting it with its own drones, but the plant is located extremely far from the front lines.