YouTube has begun a global sweep to remove videos promoting Alabuga, the notorious Russian weapons facility responsible for assembling Iranian-designed Shahed loitering munitions, according to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha.
In a statement posted on X, Sybiha welcomed the platform’s action, saying Ukraine’s dialogue with YouTube had produced results.
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Located in the Republic of Tatarstan, the Alabuga Special Economic Zone has become a major hub for Russia’s drone war against Ukraine. Sybiha said the Shahed drones assembled there are used to strike Ukrainian cities on a near-daily basis, hitting residential buildings, maternity hospitals and homes where children are sleeping.
Beyond its weapons output, Alabuga has drawn international condemnation over its recruitment practices. Sybiha said the facility recruits teenagers, some as young as 15, to work on drone production lines under the guise of vocational training.
The foreign minister also challenged the “neutral platform” argument often used by major social media networks, saying that hosting promotional material for Alabuga helps sustain Russia’s war machine.
“Platforms that carry promotional content for Alabuga are not neutral service providers,” Sybiha wrote. “They are part of the chain that sustains that production and enables Russian atrocities.”
While praising YouTube’s action as proof that direct engagement with global tech platforms can produce concrete results, Sybiha warned that Alabuga’s recruitment campaign remains active across the open internet.
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He urged other major platforms to act without delay, saying the campaign targets young people across multiple online services.
“Every day of inaction is another day that content recruiting teenagers to a sanctioned weapons manufacturer reaches its intended audience,” Sybiha warned.
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