“Russia’s answer to Amazon employing hundreds of North Koreans, videos suggest”, 17 April 2025

“Hundreds” of North Korean women are allegedly working at a warehouse run by Russia’s largest online retailer in breach of sanctions, according to videos shared on social media, although the company has staunchly denied the claims.

The two videos, posted on Monday evening in a Telegram channel for workers at e-commerce giant Wildberries’ logistics center in the city of Elektrostal, showed several women with East Asian features clad in purple Wildberries uniforms walking through the facility.

…Wildberries issued a denial on Tuesday to the Moscow Municipal News Agency without directly referencing the posts.

The online retailer, founded by ethnic Korean entrepreneur Tatyana Kim, previously issued a similar denial in February after local reports claimed that “about 100 women from the DPRK” had received three-year contracts and were being trained to work at a warehouse in the western city of Ryazan.

…Despite Wildberries’ denials, the videos showing the alleged North Korean workers at the Elektrostal warehouse appear “genuine,” according to Chris Monday, a Russia researcher at Dongseo University.

…“Russian talk shows stress that North Koreans, unlike Central Asians, do not intend to stay,” he said. “They will keep their heads down and do their work.”

Monday added that the working conditions at the “Russian Amazon” would serve Pyongyang’s needs well, with the North Korean women likely to end up working in isolation in shipment facilities and not getting to interact with Russians.

If Wildberries is indeed employing North Koreans, it would represent a particularly significant breach of U.N. sanctions prohibiting DPRK overseas labor.