Russia has suffered 'significant losses' during the war in Ukraine, the Kremlin admits.
Since Vladimir Putin announced his 'special military operation' in February, thousands of soldiers have flooded over the border as part of the invasion.
But while many experts and commentators expected Ukraine to fall within a matter of days or weeks, its military forces have held out, as have its citizens, many of whom have joined up to defend their homeland.
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As a result, Russia has seen thousands of its soldiers killed.
Last week, their official estimates put the death toll at 1,351, while the Ukrainian authorities have claimed that as many as 19,000 Russian troops had died during the war.
Speaking to Sky News this week, Putin's spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, admitted that losses had been considerable.
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He said: "We have significant losses of troops. It’s a huge tragedy for us.
"Our military are doing their best to bring an end to that operation.
"And we do hope that in coming days, in the foreseeable future, this operation will reach its goals or will finish it by the negotiations between Russian and Ukrainian delegation."
However, Peskov also took the opportunity to criticise NATO, which he said was a 'confrontational' machine.
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The Russian government has long been a fervent critic of Ukraine's ambition to join the alliance.
Peskov said: "We have to rebalance the situation and we have to take additional measures to ensure our own security because we're deeply convinced that NATO is a machine for confrontation, it's not a peaceful alliance.
"It was tailored for confrontation and the main purpose for its existence is to confront our country."
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He also warned that if Sweden and Finland end up joining NATO, Russia will again be required to take action to defend itself.
"Everything is about mutual deterring and should one side – and we consider NATO to be one side – be more powerful than the other, especially in terms of nuclear arms, then it will be considered a threat for the whole architecture of security and it will take us to take additional measures," Peskov added.
His comments on the scale of Russia's military losses come after reports that dozens of paratroopers recently staged a mutiny and refused to fight in Ukraine.
Russian opposition outlet Pskovskaya Guberniya reported: "About 60 servicemen from Pskov refused to go to war on Ukrainian territory, according to our sources.
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"After the first days of the war, they were first brought to the Republic of Belarus, and then they returned to their base in Pskov.
"Most of them are currently being dismissed, but some are threatened with criminal cases."
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Topics: Russia, Ukraine, Vladimir Putin, Volodymyr Zelensky, World News
Dominic Smithers