Associated Press

EU chief backs asylum for Russian deserters

AP Photo / Nariman El-Mofty
People light candles forming the shape of Ukraine’s map, in memory of lost lives, in front of the Taras Shevchenko monument, in Lviv, western Ukraine, Tuesday, April 5, 2022.

Associated Press

18:50 JST, April 6, 2022

BRUSSELS — A senior European Union official says the bloc’s member countries should think about ways of offering asylum to Russian soldiers willing to desert Ukraine battlefields.

European Council president Charles Michel on Wednesday expressed his “outrage at crimes against humanity, against innocent civilians in Bucha and in many other cities.”

He called on Russian soldiers to disobey orders.

“If you want no part in killing your Ukrainian brothers and sisters, if you don’t want to be a criminal, drop your weapons, stop fighting, leave the battlefield,” Michel, who represents the bloc’s governments, said in a speech to the European Parliament

Endorsing an idea previously circulated by some EU lawmakers, Michel added that granting asylum to Russian deserters is “a valuable idea that should be pursued.”