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Photos taken by Adau on the day of the Ukrainian drone strike
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Young women from Africa are being recruited for a Russian programme that they say deceives them into working in dangerous conditions building drones for the war in Ukraine. Adau, a 23-year-old from South Sudan, says she was lured by the Alabuga Start programme, which promised professional training in fields like logistics. Instead, she and others were taken to a factory to assemble Iranian Shahed 136 drones.
“We all had a lot of questions,” Adau told the BBC. “We all ended up working in the drone factory.” She said she was not allowed to refuse the work and had to sign a non-disclosure agreement.
Adau signed up after seeing this official advert sponsored by Russia
The reality of the job was harsh. Adau says chemicals used to paint the drones burned her skin. “When I got home I checked my skin and it was peeling,” she said. The Alabuga Start programme denies this, stating all staff are provided with necessary protective gear.
The facility itself became a target. Weeks after Adau arrived, the complex was struck by a Ukrainian drone. “The drone struck down the hostel right next to ours,” she recalled, realizing later they were attacked because they were producing weapons.
The chemicals burns on the arm of Adau's colleague
When Adau decided to leave, she discovered her promised salary of $600 a month was reduced to just $100 after deductions for rent, language classes, and various fines.
The South African government has launched an investigation into the programme, which is estimated to have recruited over 1,000 women from Africa. Alabuga denies using deception in its recruitment.
For Adau, the moral weight of the work was devastating. “It felt horrible having a hand in constructing something that is taking so many lives,” she said. Her family bought her a ticket home, but many other women cannot afford to leave.
SOURCE: BBC
Torch Media Africa
