- A UN-backed multilateral sanctions body estimates that up to 25,000 North Koreans are assembling military drones at Russia's Alabuga Special Economic Zone in Tatarstan—brought in under fraudulent student visas specifically designed to circumvent international sanctions.
- Russia issued more than 36,400 visas to North Korean nationals in 2025; over 35,800 of those were student visas, masking weapons assembly as academic training.
- North Korea's overseas labor network generated between $450 million and $800 million in 2025, with funds channeled directly into the Kim regime's nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs.