Michel: EU countries must consider offering asylum to Russian deserters

European Council President Charles Michel has said EU countries should consider ways to provide asylum for Russian soldiers who abandon the battlefield.

If you don't want to participate in the murder of your Ukrainian brothers and sisters, if you don't want to be criminals, remove your weapons, stop fighting, get out of the field of battle”, that was Michel's call to Russian troops to disobey orders.

Western reports suggest Russian soldiers now appear demoralised and are undergoing serious losses.

At the beginning of the invasion, Ukraine said it would offer money to any Russian soldier who would choose to desert, broadcast Sky News.