Russia reportedly buries its drone factory underground

A Ukrainian open-source analyst reported that Russia has built about 42,000 square meters of underground space for Shahed and Geran attack-drone production at Alabuga in Tatarstan. The claim follows documented expansion of the industrial zone, including new halls, a larger construction footprint, worker housing, and protective lattice towers around key buildings. Moving production underground would make future Ukrainian strikes more difficult and expensive while protecting Russia's principal Geran-2 manufacturing site. However, the underground-area estimate comes from a single analyst and has not been independently confirmed through a separate satellite-imagery assessment.