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Two African governments have signed new agreements with a Russian industrial complex linked to the production of attack drones used against Ukraine, even as a Ukrainian investigation alleges Moscow is expanding a recruitment network that draws young African women into its military-industrial workforce.

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The agreements, signed in late October by Ghana and the Democratic Republic of the Congo with Russia’s Alabuga Special Economic Zone, come months after Britain sanctioned individuals and entities associated with the Alabuga Start program over deceptive recruitment practices. The new partnerships raise questions about whether Russia’s efforts to attract foreign workers could help sustain drone production as its war against Ukraine continues.

The Ukrainian Security and Cooperation Centre says it has obtained internal documents identifying approximately 50 African women employed at Alabuga, alongside 10 Russian recruiters and two African intermediaries allegedly involved in attracting foreign workers.

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The remains of a Russian-made, Iran-designed Shahed-136 drone, known in Russia as a Geran-2, are displayed with other recovered drones, glide bombs, missiles and rockets in Kharkiv on July 30, 2025. (Scott Peterson/Getty Images)

«What we were able to do is basically to obtain internal documentation,» Solomiya Khoma, the organization’s head of international cooperation, told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview.

Khoma said the investigation went beyond previous reporting by attempting to establish how recruitment operates across borders, connecting Russian cultural organizations, local intermediaries and Alabuga’s human resources department. «Our case is specifically related to African countries,» she said.

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According to the report, the alleged network operates on three levels: Russian cultural and educational organizations cultivating relationships with young people in Africa, local recruiters promoting opportunities abroad, and Alabuga personnel arranging employment and logistics.

A satellite image shows possible planned location of UAV manufacturing plant in Russia’s Alabuga Special Economic Zone, as evidence of new Russian-Iran cooperation, in this handout acquired June 9, 2023. (White House/Handout via Reuters)

The investigation identifies two women from Tunisia and Uganda as alleged recruitment coordinators and describes connections with Russian HR personnel and foreign employees. Their specific recruitment activities have not been independently verified by Fox News Digital.

Khoma said the findings relied partly on a confidential source who remains employed within the Alabuga industrial complex.

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«This person is still continuing to work in the Alabuga economical zone and these factories,» she said, explaining why the organization could not disclose the source’s identity.

She said investigators obtained information about the workers and their identities, including internal employee passes.

The researchers also examined the involvement of Russian cultural organizations, including councils of Russian compatriots and the Russkiy Mir Foundation, in promoting educational and employment opportunities in African countries.

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The report points to a September 2024 cooperation memorandum between the Russian compatriots’ council in Tunisia and Alabuga, alongside Russian cultural activities in Uganda. However, the investigation does not establish that Russian diplomats or cultural organizations knowingly directed recruits into military drone production.

The findings build on an Associated Press investigation published in October 2024, which documented how African women recruited with promises of education and civilian employment were assigned to manufacture Iranian-designed attack drones. Some described long hours, lower-than-promised wages, surveillance and exposure to hazardous chemicals.

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s President Felix Tshisekedi arrive for their meeting on the sidelines of the Russia-Africa Summit at the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Russia, October 30, 2026. (Pavel Bednyakov/Pool via Reuters)

Khoma described a recruitment process in which women arrive in Russia expecting to combine education with paid employment, only to fail entrance examinations or Russian-language requirements.

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«These people are promised a dual education opportunity,» she said.

After failing examinations, she alleged, workers may find themselves with limited options and unable to afford transportation home, leaving them performing factory work instead of pursuing their expected studies.

The recruitment program has also attracted international scrutiny. On May 5, 2026, the British government sanctioned seven individuals and entities associated with Alabuga Start recruitment, accusing the operation of using deceptive practices to obtain foreign labor for facilities producing military drones.

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Yet cooperation with African governments appears to be continuing.

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Ghanaian broadcaster Citi News reported October 29 that Labor Minister Emmanuel Agyekum signed an agreement with Alabuga to facilitate industrial employment opportunities for Ghanaian citizens. The ministry said it would coordinate recruitment, verify job offers and provide pre-departure orientation.

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Meanwhile, CongoRassure reported October 30 that the Democratic Republic of the Congo signed a five-year memorandum focused on vocational training and strengthening employment institutions.

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama enter a hall before the beginning of their talks on the sidelines of the third Russia-Africa Summit in Moscow, Russia, October 30, 2026. (Anastasia Barashkova/Pool/Reuters)

Neither agreement, as publicly described, establishes that either government intended to supply workers for military production.

Khoma called for sanctions targeting the recruitment networks themselves, including intermediaries, financial channels and organizations facilitating foreign labor recruitment.

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She argued that Russia’s efforts to attract workers from abroad reflect growing labor shortages across its wartime economy and represent another potential point of international pressure.

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«Without this effort abroad, without this help abroad, it would be difficult for Russia to sustain a war longer,» she said.

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Nationals of African countries watch TV in a dedicated section where foreign fighters captured while serving for Russian forces on the Ukrainian front are hold at a detention center for Russian POWs in western Ukraine on November 26, 2025, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, many reports have emerged of African nationals fighting alongside Moscow’s forces, with some accusing Russian military of using deceptive tactics to recruit them. In November, Kyiv said it had identified 1,426 fighters from 36 African countries serving in the Russian army. (Photo by Genya Savilov / AFP via Getty Images)

Fox News Digital has reached out for comment to Alabuga, the Russian Foreign Ministry, and government representatives in Ghana, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Tunisia.

Efrat (Effie) Lachter is a reporter for Fox News Digital with more than 15 years of experience covering conflict, global affairs, human rights and political accountability. She has directed and produced more than 200 documentary segments across more than 40 countries, documenting conflicts, humanitarian crises, corruption, human trafficking, gender-based violence and the human stories behind major world events. 

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Lachter’s reporting has taken her into conflict zones and crisis areas across the Middle East, Europe, Asia and Africa. Her work has included uncovering human trafficking networks, revealing an ISIS underground torture prison in Syria, documenting the war in Ukraine and interviewing senior political figures and world leaders. She was also among the Western journalists who entered Russia after the war began to bring testimonies from Putin’s opposition. Lachter is the recipient of the 2022 Peres Center for Peace Award and was a 2023–2024 Knight-Wallace Journalism Fellow at the University of Michigan. She also won two Rockower Awards for Excellence in Reporting. She holds a bachelor’s degree in communication and a master’s degree in political science.

russia, ukraine, foreign affairs, world, sanctions

Military bases around Washington, D.C., have become an increasingly common refuge for some of President Donald Trump’s most powerful officials, as threats linked to Iran and a surge in threats against public officials raise security concerns across the administration.

«So you have this combination of a permission structure on the left for violence, combine it with the ability to track it and create a long paper trail, and the numbers explode, and these threat matrices go crazy,» former Secret Service agent and former FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is the latest senior administration official to relocate to a military installation, joining a growing number of top Trump officials living behind military gates as federal authorities confront security threats that extend well beyond the White House.

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«After The Wall Street Journal published an article featuring an online photo that allowed the location of the Secretary’s Georgetown home to be geo-located, security concerns began to increase which have now forced the Secretary to relocate to a military base for his safety. The news media has an obligation to act responsibly amid growing threats against public officials,» a source familiar with the situation told Digital.

Threats against Bessent had reached «more than an advanced stage» amid reported Iranian assassination threats, a senior administration official told Digital on Tuesday, but did not elaborate.

The Iranian threats against Bessent come amid a documented history of alleged Tehran-backed assassination plots targeting senior U.S. officials.

Attorney General Todd Blanche also relocated to a military base from his home around March, a different source familiar with the arrangements told Digital on Thursday.

The Justice Department charged a member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in 2022 in an alleged murder-for-hire plot targeting former Trump national security adviser John Bolton, while prosecutors disclosed in 2024 that another Iranian operative had allegedly been tasked with developing a plan to assassinate Trump.

Bongino said federal protection decisions are generally driven by threat assessments that account for threatening communications, social media activity and intelligence gathered by security personnel. Agencies responsible for protecting senior officials use those assessments to determine what level of protection is necessary.

Secret Service Director Sean Curran said last month that threats against the agency’s full-time protectees had increased more than 40% from the previous year, with roughly 10,000 threat cases recorded in 2026 at the time.

Digital reached out to the White House and Secret Service for comment.

«Pretty much, sadly, anyone at the cabinet, or even sub-cabinet level, with any kind of public persona in the Trump administration, needed a detail,» Bongino said.

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The assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and multiple attempts on President Donald Trump’s life have heightened concerns about political violence, as security officials confront a growing volume of threats against public officials.

Bongino pointed to his own experience as FBI deputy director, saying his security needs were comparable to those of some of the government’s highest-ranking law enforcement officials.

«Mine was on par with the attorney general and the FBI director that we had to expand it,» Bongino said of his threat assessment and security detail. «It was an independent analysis.»

Bongino said social media has made threats against public officials easier to track, but the sheer volume of online activity has also created more work for investigators trying to determine which threats are credible.

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Bongino said the disruption to Bessent’s personal life underscores the seriousness of the security concerns surrounding his move.

«For him to have to uproot his life. And move on to a military facility where the housing’s not terrible in those places, but it’s certainly not what he’s used to,» Bongino said. «This stuff, it’s not a convenience issue, I can promise you that. This is definitely serious stuff.»

Lawmakers have also raised concerns about security and federal spending. Rep. George Whitesides, D-Calif., secured House Armed Services Committee approval in June for a proposal seeking a Pentagon report on political appointees living in military housing, including the threats justifying their moves, legal authority for the arrangements and rental costs.

Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., also questioned whether the reported transfer of $415 million in Secret Service funding to White House construction projects could affect the agency’s protective operations, citing federal watchdog concerns about staffing and resource shortages.

Barry Donadio, a former Secret Service agent who served during the George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations, similarly told Digital that the decision to relocate Bessent to a military installation suggests an extraordinary level of concern among those responsible for his protection.

«My first inkling is that the [threat] is so high that they cannot protect him with certainty, unless he is on a military base which speaks volumes for the situation at hand,» Donadio said.

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Donadio said the move could indicate that officials believe Bessent would be safer on a military base than at a private residence.

«They may have foiled an attack already that is not being publicized, and as an extra measure, have moved him to a military base for protective custody,» Donadio said, clarifying that he did not mean Bessent was in custody, but rather under heightened government protection.

Bessent is not the only senior Trump administration official whose security concerns have prompted a move to military housing.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth have reportedly taken up residence at Fort McNair in Washington, D.C., while White House chief of staff Stephen Miller and other administration officials have moved to military installations or protected government housing.

TRUMP ADMIN APPROVES $351 MILLION FOR WHITE HOUSE SECURITY MEASURES AMID QUESTIONS OVER BALLROOM FUNDING

The relocations have not all stemmed from the same threats. Some followed concerns about domestic political violence, while Bessent’s move comes amid reported threats linked to Iran.

Bongino said threats against high-profile officials can also extend beyond their time in government, describing an incident in which an individual allegedly appeared at a California television studio with a manifesto threatening him and other officials.

«I mean, this stuff is real, it happens every day,» Bongino said. «And when you’re living through it and you’re not accustomed to it, you know, and it follows you after office too.»

He said officials including Bessent, FBI Director Kash Patel, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Hegseth understood that public service in the administration could make them targets even after leaving office.

Fort McNair, a historic Army installation along the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., has emerged as one of the military properties housing senior Trump administration officials. The installation, which dates to the late 1700s, is home to the National Defense University and traditionally provides residential quarters for senior military leaders.

Fort McNair’s residential quarters are divided into two housing groups, according to a 2020 National Capital Planning Commission report, while a 2024 Army filing identifies 27 historic homes built before 1919 at the installation.

The Army’s housing website lists 88 historic dwelling units across Fort McNair and nearby Fort Myer combined, without specifying how many are at each base.

The growing use of military housing by senior civilian officials also raises questions about who approves the arrangements, whether officials pay for their accommodations and what impact, if any, the moves have on housing traditionally reserved for military personnel.

white house, scott bessent, national security, washington dc, defense

El MAGA mantiene bajo observación 90 municipios de Guatemala ante el frío nocturno y la menor humedad del suelo, una combinación que puede afectar los cultivos de maíz, frijol, hortalizas, café y cardamomo, especialmente en las primeras etapas de crecimiento. El riesgo se concentra durante la noche y la madrugada, cuando los descensos de temperatura, la niebla y la humedad acumulada pueden deteriorar semilleros, siembras recientes y plantaciones ya establecidas.

Las proyecciones contemplan temperaturas de entre 3 y 6 °C en los altiplanos Central y Occidental, donde también podrían registrarse valores inferiores a 5 °C. El boletín agroclimático del Ministerio de Agricultura, Ganadería y Alimentación, elaborado con previsiones del Instituto Nacional de Sismología, Vulcanología, Meteorología e Hidrología, advierte que el frío coincidirá con períodos de mayor nubosidad, lluvias o lloviznas dispersas en las regiones norte y central.

El riesgo alcanza a 90 municipios de nueve departamentos, aunque el monitoreo detallado de cultivos se concentra en Huehuetenango, San Marcos, Quetzaltenango, Totonicapán, Quiché, Sololá y Chimaltenango. San Marcos, Huehuetenango, Quiché y Sololá fueron identificados como los territorios con mayor vulnerabilidad para los semilleros y las siembras jóvenes.

Las bajas temperaturas pueden perjudicar maíz, frijol, hortalizas, pastos, fresas, café y cardamomo. Las plantas recién establecidas enfrentan una exposición mayor, pero las condiciones también pueden afectar parcelas con cultivos que ya avanzaron en su desarrollo.

Semilleros y plantaciones bajo mayor exposición

La humedad disponible en el suelo es otro de los factores observados por las autoridades agrícolas, sobre todo en los terrenos de siembra reciente. Las plantas en sus primeras fases requieren condiciones adecuadas de humedad para sostener su crecimiento frente a las variaciones térmicas.

La presencia de niebla o neblina durante el amanecer y las horas nocturnas añade humedad al ambiente y eleva la posibilidad de daños en las parcelas. El agua acumulada sobre las hojas y en el terreno también puede favorecer la aparición de enfermedades en los cultivos.

El Ministerio de Agricultura recomendó realizar revisiones periódicas de las plantaciones para detectar daños en hojas, tallos y semilleros después de las madrugadas más frías o de períodos de neblina. Esa inspección debe alcanzar tanto las siembras recientes como las parcelas establecidas, debido a que la exposición varía según el estado de desarrollo de cada cultivo.

Las hortalizas pueden protegerse con coberturas temporales de plástico, tela agrícola o paja, que reducen el contacto directo con el frío. Los árboles frutales jóvenes también deben permanecer cubiertos durante los momentos de menor temperatura.

Las medidas incluyen conservar la humedad del suelo en las áreas de siembra reciente para evitar que las plantas enfrenten al mismo tiempo frío y falta de agua. El MAGA también pidió evitar podas y otras labores que dejen a los cultivos más expuestos, además de incorporar abonos orgánicos para mejorar las condiciones del suelo y favorecer el crecimiento de las raíces.

Una evaluación anterior del ministerio ubicó a 52 municipios en situación de vulnerabilidad, principalmente por encontrarse a más de 1.700 metros sobre el nivel del mar. En esas zonas, las heladas pueden comprometer la producción agrícola y los medios de vida de las familias que dependen de la agricultura y la ganadería.

El pronóstico también incluye lluvias dispersas y actividad eléctrica en el territorio nacional. Tras esos días, se espera un aumento gradual del viento del norte y nordeste, un factor que puede intensificar la sensación de frío en las comunidades rurales.

Refugios secos y alimentación para el ganado

Las recomendaciones preventivas alcanzan a la producción pecuaria, con especial atención a los animales recién nacidos, jóvenes o enfermos. El Viceministerio de Sanidad Agropecuaria y Regulaciones pidió protegerlos del frío, el viento y la humedad, ya que presentan una mayor exposición a las condiciones adversas.

Los productores deben evitar que los animales pasen la noche a la intemperie o en espacios expuestos a corrientes de aire frío. Los corrales y áreas de descanso deben conservarse secos, mientras que los refugios necesitan ventilación sin convertirse en ambientes cerrados.

El MAGA recomendó garantizar agua a temperatura ambiente y una alimentación adecuada para el ganado y los animales de granja. También solicitó contar con reservas de forraje, complementar la dieta cuando sea necesario y mantener al día las vacunas y desparasitaciones.

Las medidas fueron tratadas durante el primer Comité de Emergencia encabezado por el ministro de Agricultura, Ganadería y Alimentación, José Antonio López Leonardo. En la reunión participaron la viceministra de Sanidad Agropecuaria y Regulaciones, Mayra Motta; la viceministra de Seguridad Alimentaria y Nutricional, Dinorah Herrera, de manera virtual; el director de Información Geográfica, Estratégica y Gestión de Riesgos, Rafael López, y el director de Coordinación Regional y Extensión Rural, Nery Pérez.

Las autoridades analizaron las condiciones agroclimáticas y coordinaron la recolección de información mediante los reportes de extensionistas que trabajan en distintas regiones del país. Esos datos permitirán identificar las áreas con mayor riesgo, emitir alertas agropecuarias y orientar a las familias productoras sobre la protección de sus cultivos y animales.

El Ministerio de Agricultura mantendrá el monitoreo meteorológico en el país y prevé emitir nuevas indicaciones si las bajas temperaturas se intensifican en los próximos días.

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