Yelabuga authorities jam communications and block Telegram at drone production site

According to Ukrinform, the OTPOR Telegram channel reported this.

"In the area of the Alabuga special economic zone in Tatarstan, Telegram consistently does not work; communications are being jammed intentionally. Russia already has problems with the internet, but in Alabuga, the situation is much worse. There is a special regime here: The internet is being jammed on purpose so that no one can transmit information about the factory producing combat drones,“ noted activists from the OTPOR resistance movement.

Alabuga is a special economic zone in Yelabuga, approximately 200 km from Kazan.

As the activists explained, “Before the war, it was an industrial park with foreign residents. Now it is the world’s largest factory producing Geran-2 combat drones (the Russian version of Shahed UAVs), which are used to bomb Ukrainian cities every night. The factory is expanding rapidly: new workshops, dormitories, and new workers. Including teenagers who are supposedly studying at a college."

“The regime doesn’t want this to be known. That’s why they’re jamming communications and blocking Telegram. But the information is still getting out through us,” the activists noted.

As reported by Ukrinform, in July 2025, the Russian Ministry of Defense aired footage on its propaganda channel Zvezda showing, for the first time, the various stages of the production process for Geran-2 drones in Yelabuga. Due to a worker shortage, the drones are being manufactured by teenagers, among others.

Ukrinform's photos can be purchased here.