Russia says it is mourning many dead in its war of aggression in Ukraine, which began six weeks ago.
"We have significant losses of troops. And it's a huge tragedy for us," President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Britain's Sky News in English on Thursday.
Peskov did not provide a number.
Russia had last spoken of 1,351 soldiers killed. Ukraine assumes more than 10 times as many Russian soldiers have been killed.
In addition, the Kremlin spokesman claimed that Russian troops had been withdrawn from Ukraine's Kiev and Chernihiv regions as a goodwill gesture during peace negotiations.
Referring to Mariupol, Peskov said the embattled south-eastern Ukrainian port city was part of the "people's republics" recognized by Moscow.
"Mariupol is going to be liberated from nationalistic battalions and we hope it will happen sooner than later in the operation," Peskov said. The Kremlin spokesman called alleged war crimes committed by Russians in Mariupol, such as the attack on a maternity clinic, but also in the Kiev suburb of Bucha, "fake."
Despite witness reports and satellite imagery, Russia insists it had nothing to do with the murder of hundreds of people in Bucha.
"And we are interested in a really independent and objective investigation of all the crimes," Peskov said. But before that, he said, the format of this international investigation must be clarified.
