Influencers ‘promoted job opportunities for ladies that led to Putin’s weapons factories’ | News World

‘A brand new start… Guaranteed housing and Russian language lessons… Every six months brings a promotion and a salary increase.’

That is how South African influencers – with hundreds of thousands of followers on TikTok and Instagram – promoted a recruitment drive for the Russian republic of Tatarstan, that has now been linked to human trafficking.

DJ and social media influencer Cyan Boujee – who has since apologised – is amongst those that gushed concerning the ‘opportunity’ after being flown to Eastern Europe.

Standing in front of a block of flats construct for recruits from Africa, she told her followers about how the programme is a ‘fresh latest start,’ adding that ‘apparently girls are treated fairly here – Africans, Asians, Latin Americans’.

It’s unclear what work latest hires will do, however the programme targets young women aged 18 to 22.

Behind the sleek PR campaign, plugged by influencers, lie claims of human trafficking, coercion and African women being funnelled into ‘death’ factories to construct drones for Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.

Certainly one of the major recruiters is Alabuga Start, which is linked to the Alabuga Special Economic Zone (SEZ) – a serious player in Russia’s war economy.

Foreign women funnelled into drone factories

Last month, Metro reported on a factory – described by its director because the world’s biggest maker of strike drones – in Alabuga.

Footage shared by the Russian Zvezda news channel showed tons of of assembled Geran-2 suicide drones, made using modified Iranian Shahed 136 technology.

Russia has been actively recruiting tons of of foreign women through the ‘international vocational training programmes’.

They’re promised skilled training and decent pay, only to be forced into drone assembly, a report by the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime found.

After initially targeting African countries, Alabuga Start expanded to recruit women from Latin America, South Asia, and former Soviet countries.

Reports found that they weren’t informed that they might be working in weapons production before arriving at the location.

Some believed they were joining a work-study programme. 

The economics of it make sense. Russia is facing a serious gap within the labor market attributable to its aging population and the lack of rumoured 1 million men on the Ukrainian frontline.

At the identical time, a 3rd of the workforce in South Africa is unemployed.

In actual fact, its official unemployment rate is considered one of the best on the earth, so an increasing number are looking for opportunities abroad.

Influencers issue apology after major backlash

After facing backlash online, a variety of South African influencers are actually deleting videos en mass.

Boujee issued an apology on Tuesday, saying that she knows ‘how serious the situation is, and the team is in communication with the programme.’

Peachy Sprinkles (real name Siyamthanda Anita), who also endorsed the recruitment drive to her almost 800,000 followers, has also released a press release.

She said: ‘A number of months ago, the marketing team from the Start programme in Russia reached out to me with intentions of a possible collaboration, saying that they’re offering job opportunities to young South African individuals, and they might like us creators to place it on the market.

‘Naturally, obviously, you do your research. I didn’t do extensive research, which could reflect as negligence on my end. I deeply apologise for that.’

Russia responds to ‘human traficking’ claims

The South African government said it’s investigating the claims concerning the Alabuga Start programme.

DClayson Monyela, the deputy director-general (DDG), warned: ‘Don’t rely solely on social media promotions.

‘All the time cross-check and get a second opinion from a trusted source. Confirm jobs through official channels.’

The Russian Embassy in South Africa also released a press release, saying that it has ‘taken note’ of the concerns.

It said: ‘Most of the commentators were quick to accuse Russia of “human trafficking” and “exploitation” based on unfounded allegations.

‘It must be stressed that the Embassy has no information, aside from that spread through some biased outlets, of foreign nationals being subjected to forced labour, tricked into some actions, or otherwise experiencing violation of their rights in the midst of the programme.’

Metro has contacted TikTok and Instagram for a comment.

Get in contact with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

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