Peskov ruled out the withdrawal of troops from the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant

We are not talking about the withdrawal of Russian troops from the territory of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant now, said Dmitry Peskov, press secretary of the President of Russia.

“Now we are not talking about the withdrawal of troops. Now we are talking about the main thing – to force the Ukrainian side to stop the barbaric shelling of objects on the territory of the station, which is fraught with very sad and catastrophic consequences,” the Kremlin spokesman said.

According to Peskov, the Russian side continues to call on all countries that have influence on Ukraine to use their influence so that it stops the daily and incessant shelling of the ZNPP.

The representative of the Russian military-civilian administration (VGA) of the Zaporozhye region Vladimir Rogov earlier declaredthat the ZNPP can be restarted after the line of contact moves to a safe distance.

On the night of September 11, the last operating power unit was shut down at ZNPP, and its transition to a cold state began. The shutdown of the reactor will not completely remove the threat of a nuclear catastrophe against the backdrop of ongoing shelling, the head of the Rosenergoatom concern, Renat Karchaa, said earlier.

Later, the situation at the Zaporizhzhya NPP was discussed by telephone between Russian President Vladimir Putin and French leader Emmanuel Macron. Putin briefed his French counterpart on the measures taken by Russian specialists to ensure the physical protection of the station and stressed the need to influence the Kyiv authorities so that the shelling of the station would immediately stop.

Also yesterday, Director General of the International Nuclear Safety Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi announced the start of consultations on the creation of a nuclear safety zone around ZNPP.

During a special military operation in Ukraine, the Russian military took control of part of the Zaporozhye region, including Energodar, where the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, the ZNPP, is located. The IAEA mission arrived at the territory of the Zaporozhye NPP on September 1 due to regular shelling from Ukraine.

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