"They have declared a true hybrid war, a total war against us," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at a meeting in Moscow.

"This term -- used by Nazi Germany -- is now used by many European politicians when they say what they want to do with Russia."

He said European officials were making no secret of their goals -- to "destroy, break, annihilate and suffocate the economy and Russia as a whole."

Since President Vladimir Putin sent troops to pro-Western Ukraine on February 24, the West has pummeled Moscow with unprecedented measures, making Russia the most sanctioned country in the world.

Moscow has said it aims to "de-militarise" and "denazify" Ukraine.

The Soviet Union's role in defeating Hitler's Germany in 1945 remains a huge point of pride in Russia and lies at the centre of Putin's patriotic discourse.

Putin has denounced the West's economic "blitzkrieg" and compared the sanctions to "anti-Semitic pogroms carried out by Nazis".

He has also accused the West of working to weaken Russia with the help of "national traitors".