Russia has reportedly told people to leave 18 settlements in the Zaporizhzhia region, including Enerhodar near the plant, ahead of Kyiv’s anticipated offensive.
This suggest the possibly of heavy fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces around the plant.
The UN’s nuclear watchdog warned a severe nuclear accident could occur.
Operating staff were still at the site but there was „deep concern about the increasingly tense, stressful, and challenging conditions for personnel and their families”.
On Friday, the Russian-installed regional head Yevgeny Balitsky said that „in the past few days, the enemy has stepped up shelling of settlements close to the front line […] „I have therefore made a decision to evacuate first of all children and parents, elderly people, disabled people and hospital patients,” he wrote on social media.
Since Russia launched its invasion in February 2022 the number of staff at the plant has declined, the IAEA says, „but site management has stated that it has remained sufficient for the safe operation of the plant”.
In November 2022, UN nuclear inspectors have made an appeal for fighting to stop at Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant – close to the front line in Ukraine – to help prevent a nuclear accident.
Russian forces occupy much of the Zaporizhzhia region but not the regional capital Zaporizhzhia.
