Russia is gradually reducing the number of personnel at the occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine, the Military Intelligence Service of Ukraine said on Friday, Reuters reports.

Zaporizhzhia NPP, satellite viewPhoto: Handout / AFP / Profimedia

He did not specify why some people left, and Reuters said it could not independently verify the information. Russia, which has occupied the plant since March 2022, did not comment on this statement.

This month, Kyiv accused Russia of planning a “terrorist” attack on a nuclear power plant with a release of radiation. Moscow rejected the accusations.

“According to the latest data, the occupation contingent is gradually leaving the territory of the Zaporizhzhya NPP,” the Main Information Department of the Ministry of Defense (GUR) reported in the Telegram application.

The GUR said that three employees of the Russian state nuclear company Rosatom, who were “responsible for the activities of the Russians”, were among the first to leave the nuclear plant.

He stated that the Ukrainian employees who signed the contract with “Rosatom” were also recommended to leave. Employees must leave by July 5 and preferably go to the Crimean Peninsula.

The GUR noted that the number of military patrols on the vast territory of the plant and in the neighboring city of Energodar also gradually decreased, and the personnel who remained at the plant were told to blame Ukraine “in case of any emergency.”

On Thursday, Ukraine held an exercise on eliminating the consequences of a nuclear disaster near the nuclear power plant.