Russian soldiers

Russia said its troops began pulling out of a strategic Ukrainian city on Thursday,

Michel added that granting asylum to Russian deserters is “a valuable idea that should be pursued.”

Many Asian markets were closed for holidays.

Demoralized Russian soldiers in Ukraine were refusing to carry out orders and sabotaging their own equipment.

“This is a blitzkrieg,” a Ukrainian citizen said. He stood in the rubble of a home newly shattered by what residents called a Russian airstrike in Gorenka.

More than 70 Ukrainian soldiers were killed after Russian artillery hit a military base in Okhtyrka, a city between Kharkiv and Kyiv, the head of the region wrote on Telegram.