This article was originally published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and is reprinted with permission.
CHUI, Kyrgyzstan — Samira was about to send her 16-year-old daughter from where they live in Chui, northern Kyrgyzstan, to study at a prestigious school in the Russian republic of Tatarstan. What she didn’t know was that the school, Alabuga Polytechnic — a technical institution located in the republic’s Alabuga free economic zone — was producing combat drones used in Russian air strikes on Ukraine.
“I thought it was a regular vocational school program,” Samira, who asked to remain anonymous by using a pseudonym, told RFE/RL. “But when I learned about the military ties and drone production, I was shocked.”
‘Russia Needs You’
The Russian authorities are freely distributing promotional and recruitment material for the Alabuga Polytechnic in Kyrgyz schools. One brochure urges students to “Join the…best!” A picture of young people dressed in military uniforms promises to “train [students] to become the best specialists on assembling unmanned aerial vehicles for the Russian Army’s needs!” On one brochure’s cover page, there is a picture of a drone alongside the pro-Russian military symbols “Z” and “V.”
Months earlier, according to local media reports, Alabuga Polytechnic brochures also appeared in schools in neighboring Kazakhstan.
It wasn’t just brochures. This spring, recruiters from Alabuga Polytechnic visited schools in northern Kyrgyzstan. Students as young as 14 are being invited to apply, something that has raised concerns among parents. The gender-inclusive recruitment, along with promises of a high-tech education, career growth, and monthly salaries or stipends ranging from 30,000 rubles ($382) to 70,000 rubles, are a big draw.
The Alabuga special economic zone appears to have been recruiting students through an online game called Business Cats, where players raise and trade virtual cats to simulate entrepreneurship and develop business skills.
According to the authorities in Alabuga, the game was “a financial literacy and entrepreneurship program for schoolchildren available not only in Russia but in other former Soviet republics.” Local schoolteachers in Kyrgyzstan reportedly promoted the game via WhatsApp.
Military Link Confirmed
On April 2, 2024, a Ukrainian drone strike on the Alabuga free economic zone injured seven people, including minors. Further attacks followed that year, on April 23 and June 15, the latter killing two people and wounding 13. Ukrainian military officials later confirmed the strikes targeted drone facilities used to attack Ukrainian infrastructure, labeling Alabuga a “legitimate military target.”
Russia has also admitted that drones are being produced in Alabuga. In July, Russia’s Defense Ministry TV channel Zvezda confirmed in a program that Iranian-designed Shahed-136 drones, branded domestically as Geran, are being mass-produced in the Alabuga special economic zone. The program showed the scale of the assembly operations, which involves college students.
According to the Zvezda report, Timur Shagivaleyev, director of the Alabuga special economic zone, said “thousands” of drones are produced at a factory with the help of students from Alabuga Polytechnic. Footage showed young workers, many appearing to be teenagers, operating machinery and assembling parts. “Hundreds of machines, thousands of workers, and everywhere you look — young people,” the program’s host said. “Boys and girls work here and study at the same time.”
Children Traveling Alone
Parents like Samira became alarmed when they were told that their children would fly alone to Russia, unaccompanied by an adult or state representative.
“That’s when I started to be worried,” Samira said. “They were asking for my daughter’s travel documents, ID card, and even offered to buy her ticket themselves.”
One recruiter, she said, messaged her repeatedly on Telegram. “They kept calling. When I stopped responding, they called again and again,” Samira said.
Myrza Karimov, an education expert in Kyrgyzstan, has spoken out about the situation. “If our Education Ministry has made an agreement, then someone from the ministry should [chaperone] the group and hand them over on the other side,” Karimov said. “Because the children are under 18, it’s not right to just send them off and assume they’ll be received on the other side. Even when school-aged children participate in various international sports events, a state representative always accompanies them.”
Some Kyrgyz parents have already seen their children leave for Alabuga. Kazybek, a Chui local who asked to use a pseudonym, told RFE/RL that his son traveled to Alabuga on July 15 and that the school covered the flight expenses.
“My son told me there are now 21 students from Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and other countries. He hasn’t started official classes yet. They are just playing paintball and military-style patriotic games,” he said.
Kazybek added that he signed documents that exempted the school from liability if students were injured during such activities. “They said it’s not real combat, just simulation,” he said.
How Much Is The Kyrgyz Education Ministry Involved?
Dinara Bektasheva, a senior official in the Education Ministry, confirmed that Alabuga Polytechnic representatives have been visiting schools in Kyrgyzstan since 2023. “They did this independently,” she said. “We didn’t participate in the school visits.”
However, Mirlan Toktobekov, the principal of a school in the city of Tokmok in the Chui region, said that when three Alabuga representatives visited in April, “we were ordered by those above us to allow them into our school.” He added that two students participated in the recruitment drive, one of whom advanced and applied to enroll.
Kyrgyzstan’s Education Ministry has signed a cooperation memorandum with the Alabuga special economic zone. The agreement promotes technical and vocational cooperation and supports Kyrgyz citizens’ employment within the zone.
Bektasheva said 58 Kyrgyz students are currently enrolled in Alabuga but denied that the school manufactures drones. “There’s a lot of misinformation,” she said.
For most families, schoolteachers were the primary source of information about Alabuga Polytechnic.
One parent from Tokmok, whose daughter passed the recruitment tests and is set to travel to Alabuga, said, “We trusted the teachers. We were told their own children were going there.”
It’s the murky recruitment process that worries education expert Karimov. And, he adds, “if children are truly being recruited based on a memorandum signed by our Education Ministry, then this needs to be made public.”
