Russia Withdraws Nearly All Staff from Iran's Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant

Russia has withdrawn nearly all of its staff from Iran’s sole nuclear power plant, which was built and operated with Moscow’s assistance. This was announced by the head of Russia’s atomic energy agency on Monday (13 April) local time.

“We have begun the final rotation at the Bushehr station,” said Alexei Likhachev, as reported by Al Arabiya and AFP on Tuesday (14 April 2026). He added that 108 people were evacuated. Currently, only 20 people—managers and those responsible for equipment safety—remain at the Bushehr nuclear power plant.

Russia began evacuating its staff from the power plant due to the threat of airstrikes amid the US-Israel war against Iran.

Moscow has warned that strikes near the power plant risk causing “a radiological disaster more devastating than Chernobyl.”

The Bushehr facility is located in southern Iran and is equipped with a 1,000-megawatt reactor.

The surrounding area has been hit by strikes at least four times during the war.

Earlier this month, an attack killed one person—a guard at the facility—but did not damage the nuclear power plant itself, according to Iranian state media and analysis by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of satellite imagery of the site.

The US-Iran conflict is heating up again with the US military’s move to blockade Iranian ports in order to open the Strait of Hormuz. The blockade officially began on Monday (13/04) at 10:00 ET or 21:00 WIB.

The US Central Command (CENTCOM) stated that the blockade is being carried out on the orders of President Donald Trump. The operation aims to prevent ships from sailing to or from Iranian ports in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman east of the Strait of Hormuz.

Meanwhile, Iran has warned that no ports in the region will be safe if Iran’s security is threatened.