MOSCOW, April 4, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Russia started a planned evacuation of 198 
workers from Iran's Bushehr atomic plant shortly after a US-Israeli 
projectile hit near the facility, Russian state media said on Saturday.

This was a third evacuation from the facility in southern Iran on the Gulf 
coast, which was built with Moscow's help, with about 100 Russian staff 
remaining there by now.

The area around Bushehr has been struck four times during this war. The 
latest attack on Saturday saw one person -- a guard at the facility -- 
killed, but did not damage the plant itself, according to Iranian state 
media.

"As planned, we began the main phase of the evacuation today," Russia's 
nuclear agency Rosatom head Alexey Likhachev was quoted as saying by Russia's 
TASS news agency.

"About 20 minutes after that ill-fated strike, buses set off from Bushehr 
station towards the Iranian-Armenian border (with) 198 people, to be precise 
-- this is the largest evacuation," he added.

Likhachev also said that Russia informed the US and Israel about the 
evacuation.

"The likelihood of a risk of damage or a potential nuclear incident is, 
unfortunately, only increasing, as has been confirmed by this morning's 
events," the Rosatom CEO said.

The agency plans to keep only a skeleton staff at Bushehr amid the threat of 
further strikes.

The Russian foreign ministry slammed the "evil" US-Israeli attack and urged a 
cessation of hostilities on Iranian nuclear facilities immediately.