Russia shoots down Ukrainian claims of Zaporizhzhia withdrawal

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) – The Kremlin on Monday denied Ukrainian claims of a Russian withdrawal from the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.

Zaporizhzhia, Europe’s largest and one of the world’s 10 biggest nuclear power plants, has been under Russian control since March, soon after Moscow launched what it calls a “special military operation” in Ukraine.

“There is no need to look for any signs where there are none and there cannot be,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in a briefing, rebuffing comments by senior Ukrainian officials.

Peskov said Russia welcomes the readiness of numerous countries to help in negotiations with Ukraine, without specifying any country in particular.

Petro Kotin, head of Ukraine’s state atomic energy company Energoatom, said on Sunday there were “some signs” that Russia might be planning to vacate the plant.

“It seems that they are packing suitcases and stealing everything they can find,” Kotin said in a news program, according to the RBK-Ukraine news agency.

His remarks were echoed by Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who said Russia’s grip on the plant in southeastern Ukraine was loosening as its forces were “being gradually pushed closer to the border.”​​​​​​​