The territory of the Alabuga Special Economic Zone in the Tatarstan region, where Russia assembles Shahed-type kamikaze drones, has expanded by 340 hectares over the past year.
This was reported by Radio Liberty after analyzing satellite images.
Satellite imagery from May 2025 and May 2026 was compared. Construction of new hangars is ongoing in the northern part of Alabuga. In addition, new residential and production facilities have been completed in the central part of the zone over the past year. Overall, Alabuga has expanded by 340 hectares in one year.
In April 2026, active construction work also began on an area of more than 450 hectares south of Alabuga, on the other side of the federal highway M-12 “Vostok,” which runs near the zone. Satellite images also show another road under construction leading from this highway to the special economic zone.
The Alabuga Special Economic Zone is the main production site for “Geran” strike drones, which are based on Iranian Shahed designs. Every night, Russian forces launch between 100 and 600 such drones against Ukraine, which have been significantly improved compared to the original Iranian model.
