Kremlin says it must purge Ukraine of ‘Nazis’; Zelenskiy says Russia acting like Nazi Germany

MOSCOW — The Kremlin said on Thursday that the length of Russia's military operation in Ukraine depended on how it progressed and on its aims, and that the assault should ideally cleanse the country of "Nazis" and "neutralize" Kyiv's military potential.

In a conference call with reporters, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that nobody was talking about occupying Ukraine and that it was "unacceptable" to use the word to describe in the context of Russia's operation.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, according to a report on Agence France-Presse, compared Russia's invasion of his country to military campaigns carried out by Nazi Germany during World War II.

"Russia has attacked Ukraine in a cowardly and suicidal way, like Nazi Germany did during World War II," the Ukrainian president said in an online briefing, during which he called on Ukrainians to "go out" and "protest against this war. — Reuters