Aide to a State Duma deputy ran a network bringing North Korean workers into Russia

The intermediaries assemble brigades of 50 to 100 North Korean citizens willing to work 12-hour days, 28 days a month, according to the GRC findings, reported by Mediazona with reference to Reuters, the Financial Times and Agentstvo. Advertisements aimed at employers say such workers "are not late, do not skip work, do not drink and do not fight." The intermediaries receive up to 150,000 rubles for each worker.

North Koreans enter Russia on student visas. They are housed in separate dormitories, and their documents are kept at the North Korean embassy. According to GRC, workers who breach their contracts or flee face "serious consequences" at home.

Investigators posing as potential employers found that North Koreans are hired, among other places, at a plant producing army rations for the Russian military. According to Reuters, staff at the North Korean embassy in Moscow inspected potential work sites.

Sokolov heads the Blackhos group of companies, which officially sells industrial equipment to North Korea. He has worked as an aide to Anatoly Karpov since 2020. In October the European Union imposed sanctions on Sokolov and Blackhos over participation in North Korean trade and industrial projects in violation of UN restrictions.

Based on Russian border-crossing data, Mediazona calculated that almost 13,000 North Korean citizens entered Russia in 2024, the overwhelming majority citing "study" as the purpose of their visit. In the first quarter of 2025 there were only three such entries.

The UN Security Council banned the issuance of new work permits to North Korean citizens in 2017 and demanded that those already working abroad be returned home. Lara Strangways, who heads GRC's business and human rights practice, said North Korean workers' labor "supports Russian industry, including enterprises connected to the war in Ukraine."

Russia's Foreign Ministry and the North Korean embassy did not respond to Reuters' requests for comment. One of the two Russians whom GRC names as key members of the network rejected the accusations.