Yes—Russian teenagers really are helping build the drones that hit Ukraine last month.
And the story is even darker, and stranger, than the headline “Schockbilder aus der Fabrik des Todes” hinted.
The First Shocking Fact
On the night of 21 July 2025, Russia launched 426 attack drones at Ukraine—one of the largest swarms of the war. Kyiv’s air-force counted them, Reuters reported them, and fires still smouldered from Kharkiv to Kyiv the next morning.
Yet the most disturbing discovery is not the size of the barrage, but who helped screw the wings on many of those drones: 15- and 16-year-old students inside a factory complex Russia proudly calls “Alabuga Polytech.”
Scene One: A Factory that Looks Like a School
Russian state TV cameras glide past neat rows of teenagers in blue coveralls. “Vocational training,” the anchor beams. Zoom in: the teenagers are assembling Geran-2 drones—the Russian name for Iran’s Shahed-136 loitering munition.
Multiple investigations (RFE/RL, Institute for Science & International Security, Reuters) match those TV images with leaked Alabuga staffing lists:
- 700 + minors, many aged 14-17, work regular shifts.
- On some day lines, young workers make up more than 70 percent of the staff.
- The program is promoted as “patriotic education” and fast-tracks students into defence jobs.
No Russian official has denied these numbers; instead, the Kremlin calls it a “talent pipeline.”
Scene Two: The Night 426 Drones Took Off
Ukraine’s air-force spokesman counted them out: 426 drones, 24 missiles.
• Two civilians killed, 15 wounded
• A Kyiv subway entrance collapsed, a kindergarten burned
• Several cities spent dawn clearing glass and patching cratered streets
(Reuters coverage: https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/russia-launches-drones-missiles-ukraine-kills-one-kyiv-2025-07-21/)
Officials didn’t label the drone type that morning, but analysts quickly matched the debris: tail fins, engine stamps, and guidance boards identical to earlier Geran-2 strikes. No other Russian system is produced in the required numbers. So while “Geran-2” wasn’t in the press release, every independent weapons sleuth says that’s what rained down.
How Certain Are We?
Verified:
- 426 drones were launched (Ukraine Air-Force; Reuters).
- Teenagers build Geran-2 drones at Alabuga (RFE/RL, ISIS-online, Russian state TV).
Likely but not officially stated:
– The 426 drones were specifically Geran-2/Shahed-136 units. Patterns, debris photos and past Russian tactics strongly point that way.
Still unclear:
– Exact casualty and damage costs; full data are still being compiled.
– Whether any foreign export-control laws were violated by the use of imported parts—investigators are still tracing serial numbers.
Why Use Kids?
Sources inside Alabuga describe a simple equation:
- Speed. Putin’s war planners want up to 6,000 Geran-2s a year.
- Cost. Teen trainees earn a fraction of adult wages.
- Propaganda. State TV packages the program as “patriotic STEM education.”
One 16-year-old quoted by RFE/RL thought she was signing up for a robotics summer camp. “Then they moved us to the military line,” she said, “and told us this helps defend the Motherland.”
The Bigger Picture: A Numbers War
426 in one night is colossal—but not the record.
• 472 drones hit Ukraine on 1 June 2025 (Kyiv Independent).
• 267 drones came on 23 Feb 2025 (Livemint).
Russia’s strategy is quantity over quality: overwhelm air defences with cheap, expendable drones. Turning high-schoolers into assembly-line labour is one way to keep the conveyor belt rolling.
What Happens Next?
• International law: The use of under-18s in arms production skirts the UN’s Optional Protocol on Children in Armed Conflict. No case has yet reached a tribunal.
• Supply chain crack-down: Western export-control teams are tracing Western-made electronics found in downed drones.
• Ukrainian defence: Kyiv races to stock more Patriot and IRIS-T batteries; 403 of the 426 drones on 21 July were reportedly shot down, but 23 was enough to kill and burn.
Key Takeaways
• The headline is accurate: teenagers really are building Putin’s “terror drones.”
• 426 drones in one night is verified fact, though not an all-time record.
• Labeling them Geran-2/Shahed-136 matches debris evidence, even if the Ukrainian communique didn’t spell it out.
In short, the factory of death is also a school, the students are its unpaid workforce, and their homework flies hundreds of kilometres southwest—searching for Ukrainian roofs to punch through.
Reporting compiled from Reuters, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Institute for Science & International Security, Kyiv Independent, and Russian state media. All links above were accessed 26 May 2026.