Budanov: Russia will help North Korea establish production of Shaheds

Russia will help North Korea establish production of "Shaheeds" in the DPRK, said Kyrylo Budanov, head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, in an interview with The War Zone.

"[There are] agreements on the beginning of the creation of capabilities to produce UAVs of the Garpiya and Geran [the Russian version of Iranian Shahed-136 drones] types on the territory of North Korea," he said.

The head of the GUR is convinced that this "will lead to changes in the military balance in the region between North Korea and South Korea." At the same time, Kirill Budanov added that so far Russia and North Korea have only agreed to start organizing this production.

Recall that Russia received the first hundreds of Shaheds from Iran in 2022. In the summer of 2023, the aggressor began to independently produce these drones. The enterprise was set up 1,200 km from the front line - in the special economic zone "Alabuga", in the city of Yelabuga.

According to GUR estimates, as of May 2025, the production of Shaheds and imitators of this drone in Russia reached about 170 units per day. By the end of the year, they intend to increase the figure to 190 drones per day.