By Zvidzayi Muzvidzi
BULAWAYO – An 18-year-old Zimbabwean girl’s heavy menstrual bleeding at a Polish border post in May 2026 became her unlikely escape route from a suspected human trafficking network that was smuggling nine young Southern African women into Russia for the notorious Alabuga Special Economic Zone.
The girl, who we will call Thandie to protect her identity, has broken her silence after being deported from Poland, leaving eight other women – two from South Africa, three Zimbabweans and three Batswana to be trafficked into Russia by road.
This publication has established that the syndicate used the Polish land border as an entry point into the European Union before moving victims east into Russia – a new and dangerous reverse trafficking route.
Thandie told this publication that she received the job invitation link from a friend of her aunt – a woman who had herself been trafficked earlier to Alabuga, in the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia.
“She sent me a link and said there is a programme in Russia where girls can get jobs and scholarships. She said it pays well, and I was desperate after finishing school,” Thandie narrated from her auntie’s residence, down in a marginalised village.
“My young brother and I were orphaned when we were just 13 and 8 years old respectively. We grew up in the custody of our aunt before advising me to be independent, so poverty and a quest to make ends meet forced me to grab any perceived opportunity especially if it comes through her links,” she added.
“We left Zimbabwe through the Beitbridge border post heading into Gauteng (South Africa) before we proceeded to KwaZulu Natal where we joined other girls and young women to embark on our journey. Surprisingly, they organise for our travel and pay handsomely during the course of our journey and stay in hotels and sometimes we would stay as a group in air bnb where two of entrusted members by those who promised us work were in contact with. I remember sending money daily to my sibling and auntie whilst on our way because they kept on sending money through our group leaders,” she added.
“It was on a Tuesday morning when we disembarked from a plane that I started sensing danger. That’s when I got period pain and started bleeding. At first, I thought it was a normal bleeding, but it got worst upon arrival whilst waiting for our transport which was supposed to ferry us from a Polish border when officials noticed that I was bleeding too much,” she added.
“My aunt’s friend had been complaining constantly in our early chats. She complained about period poverty, about not having pads, about gross human rights abuses, about working long hours in a factory. But she said if we come we would help each other,” Thandie said.
The programme she was referring to is the “Alabuga Start” – a scheme that has been flagged by international watchdogs and media investigations as recruiting young African women aged 18-22 under the guise of work-study programmes, only for them to end up assembling drones in a heavily militarised zone.
Investigations show the nine girls converged in Gauteng, then left for KwaZulu Natal before flying to Europe. From there, they were instructed to enter by road through the Polish border – a tactic traffickers use to avoid strict airport immigration checks for African passports heading to Russia.
Sources close to the case said the girls – all between 18 and 23 years – were coached to pose as tourists.
It was at the Polish border post that Thandie’s ordeal turned.
“I started menstruating heavily. I was bleeding profusely, I was in pain and I had no pads. I was crying and asking for help. The officers saw my condition,” she said.
Polish border officials, according to her account, deemed her unfit to travel and administratively deported her – a decision that inadvertently saved her from being trafficked.
“I was deported back. I left the other eight. They proceeded. I don’t know where they are now. The last message from one of the Zimbabwean young women was just ‘we have been tricked, conned and arrived, but we are in the greatest hell of our lifetime. We lost our dignity and there is no escape’.”
Thandie said the chats she had with the aunt’s friend who is already in Alabuga revealed a pattern of exploitation consistent with other investigations.
“She constantly complained about period poverty – that they are not given sanitary wear. That they work for long hours, that they are watched, that their passports were taken. She said it is gross human rights abuses,” added Thandie.
The Alabuga zone has been under international scrutiny for allegedly using young foreign women to assemble Iranian-designed Shahed drones used in the war in Ukraine.
The other eight women – two South Africans, three other Zimbabweans and three from Botswana besides Thandie are believed to be inside Russia. Their phones have gone silent for weeks, with only sporadic messages.
Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, South Africa’s Department of International Relations, and Botswana’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs were contacted for comment. The trafficking is now subject of an Interpol referral.
An anti-trafficking expert who spoke to this publication said the case bears all hallmarks of trafficking as defined under the Palermo Protocol.
“This is recruitment by deception, transportation by road through a third country to conceal final destination, and exploitation. Using Poland as a transit is a new modus operandi. And the fact that the Alabuga Start targets vulnerable young women from Southern Africa with promises of free flights and 700 dollars a month is well documented,” the expert said.
Thandie’s family is now appealing for Government intervention to rescue the remaining eight women.
“I survived because of my period. That bleeding saved my life. But I am worried about my friends whether they are all still alive or did not survive. They are still there. They need help,” she said, sobbing.
According to Thandie, the recruitment happened fast. She received the link in late April (28th April, 2026) from her aunt’s friend already in Alabuga. The link led to the Alabuga Start portal where she uploaded her passport, a selfie video and personal details. Within 48 hours she was told she was selected, signed a digital contract, and was instructed to link up with eight other girls and young women from Zimbabwe, Botswana and South Africa. After crossing with the assistance of illegal cross-border agents into South Africa, they were destined for Gauteng where they temporarily stay in a property adjacent to Centurion Mall in Pretoria (Gauteng) in early May.
Mostly, everything including payments and transactions, were done online on their behalf where only their group leader was responsible for withdrawing money (hard cash) and share with other girls and women whilst on their way to Centurion (Gauteng), KwaZulu Natal, and right upto Poland where she was deported.
“When our group leaders (two women) noticed that I was intercepted and couldn’t proceed, they gave me a hard cash money of about US$10,000 in total,” Thandie said.
The group flew to Europe and attempted to enter by road through Poland in mid-May – a tactic to avoid airport checks. It was at that border post that she started heavy menstrual bleeding. Polish officers removed her from the group and deported her. The other eight proceeded into Russia by road. Thandie no longer has the chats, voice notes and recruitment link, but is willing to have time to check with her auntie if she could share screenshots for investigators.
Note: The identity of the survivor has been concealed. The other victims’ names are withheld to protect investigations.