Siberian teen reportedly dies by suicide after studying and working at Alabuga, where drones are assembled for Russia’s war in Ukraine

A 16-year-old in Novokuznetsk died by suicide after spending four months working and studying at the Alabuga special economic zone in Tatarstan, where drones are assembled for the war with Ukraine, the outlet Echo reported. Echo said it has obtained an appeal from the teenager’s parents (it does not specify to whom the appeal was addressed) and a death certificate.A source told Echo that the teenager — identified by the outlet only as T., without his full name — was interested in drones and had wanted to study at Alabuga. The source said the administration at Alabuga “pressed very hard, demanded that he fulfill the plan, and forced him to work,” and that he also faced bullying within his group, where “there was hazing, and older students beat younger ones.”In their appeal, the parents said their son had lived under “a regime of harsh military discipline and a lack of time for sleep and food, in constant strain on his emotional and physical strength.” They said that after he returned, he “became withdrawn, stopped smiling and enjoying things, complained of constant headaches, lost his appetite, and slept poorly.”The parents also wrote that the teenager may have been driven to suicide “in connection with his involvement with Alabuga, which is confirmed by his intercepted correspondence with unknown persons.” They gave no further details about the correspondence. The parents cited the conclusions of a psychiatrist, who said the teenager was in a deep depression “caused by prolonged stress at Alabuga amid the emotional instability of a child’s psyche.”The source said that after the teenager’s death, his parents contacted law enforcement agencies, which “send back form responses” and have shown no interest in investigating.The Alabuga special economic zone in Tatarstan has been assembling drones based on Iranian Shahed models since 2023. Those drones are then used to attack Ukrainian cities. The zone includes Alabuga Polytech college, which draws students into assembling drones.At Meduza, we are committed to transparency about our use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom. The story you’re reading was written by one of our living, breathing journalists and translated from Russian using an AI model configured to follow our strict editorial standards. This translation process is the result of extensive testing and refinements to ensure our English-language coverage is timely and accurate. A Meduza editor reviews every draft before publication.If you find any errors in this translation, please contact us at [email protected].To read Meduza’s exclusive content in English, please subscribe to our newsletter.