One of the efforts to denationalize Ukraine is the liquidation of the Ukrainian Armed Forces' nationalist battalions and criminal prosecution of their commanders and fighters, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, TASS reported.

"There are a limited number of nationalist formations operating there, the Banderites. Of course, we need to get rid of them. These are the ones who are neo-Nazis. These are the same people who started killing their own people in 2014, torturing people in the south-east of Ukraine. Someone has to punish them," Peskov said.

Dmitry Peskov refused to answer a question about Russian army losses in a special operation in Ukraine, noting, however, that President Vladimir Putin receives all the data.