Russia denies planning to give up Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant

Russia denies planning to give up Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant

The Kremlin said on Monday that the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine is still under Russian control and will remain so, after a Ukrainian official suggested Russian forces were preparing to leave.

On Sunday, the head of Ukraine’s state-owned nuclear energy company said there were signs that Russian forces were preparing to leave Europe’s largest nuclear plant, which they seized shortly after invading Ukraine in March.

Speaking to reporters during a briefing on Monday, spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, “There’s no need to look for signs where there are none and cannot be any.”

Mykhailo Podolyak, Ukraine’s presidential adviser, said late on Sunday that he had no doubt Russian forces would leave the plant, where Ukrainian workers are still working.