Russia expands shaheddas plant in Elabuga
29 June 13:09
Against the backdrop of intensified air attacks on Ukraine using Shahed attack drones and their analogues, several foreign media outlets published materials about a significant increase in the production of these weapons in Russia. In June 2025, this information was also confirmed to the media by the Ukrainian GUR.
This was reported by "Komersant Ukrainian" with reference to NV.
For several years now, the main production center of the Shahed has been located about a thousand kilometers from the state border of Ukraine, in the city of Elabuga, Republic of Tatarstan.
There have been several recent reports of air attacks on this production facility, but it would take really powerful weapons, such as cruise or ballistic missiles, to cause significant damage to the plant.
NV has obtained access to satellite imagery of the Yelabuga production center, which shows the expansion of production, the construction of new buildings, and preparations for even greater expansion.
NV’s military correspondent Sergey Okunev analyzed about a dozen images at once, but for a number of objective reasons, such as weather conditions and the quality of the footage, the images from October 4, 2024, were taken as a basis.
Since then, in 9 months, the Russians have built four new sites with a total area of approximately 163 hectares on the territory of the production complex. Also, as of June 2025, a zone for the construction of a fifth site with an area of 30 hectares has been prepared.
The plan is to place small buildings on these sites, which are likely to be used as dormitories for Yelabuga personnel.
The GUR reported that “labor” is the main need of the occupiers to increase the production of UAVs. Thus, the creation of sites with dormitories is aimed at overcoming this need.
In turn, the Japanese TV channel NHK, citing diplomatic sources in the West and Russia, reported that North Korea is considering sending up to 25,000 workers to Russia to engage in the production of attack drones and other drones.
According to the channel’s journalists, Russia is increasing drone production and is preparing to attract North Korean labor, which it considers cheap, disciplined, and ready for long hours. In return, Pyongyang expects to train personnel to operate the drones.
on June 21, the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine reported that the maximum number of drones that the aggressor country Russia is currently capable of attacking Ukraine with in one night is about 500 units.
According to the GUR, Russia produces up to 170 shaheds and imitator drones per day, and by the end of the year, the production of Russian drones could increase to 190 units per day.
In total, as of June 15, the aggressor country had accumulated about 6,000 attack drones of the Geranium-2 (Shahed-136) and Harpy-A1 types, as well as more than 6,000 imitators (Gerbera).
