Pope Francis has taken a new series of swipes at Russia for its actions in Ukraine, saying its troops were brutal, cruel and ferocious and that the invasion violated a country's right to self-determination.

In the text of a conversation he had last month with editors of Jesuit media and published on Tuesday, he praised "brave" Ukrainians for fighting for survival but also said the situation was not black and white and that the war was "perhaps in some way provoked".

While condemning "the ferocity, the cruelty of Russian troops, we must not forget the real problems if we want them to be solved," Francis said, including the armaments industry among the factors that provide incentives for war.

"It is also true that the Russians thought it would all be over in a week. But they miscalculated. They encountered a brave people, a people who are struggling to survive and who have a history of struggle," he said in the transcript of the conversation, published by the Jesuit journal Civilta Cattolica.

"This is what moves us: to see such heroism. I would really like to emphasize this point, the heroism of the Ukrainian people. What is before our eyes is a situation of world war, global interests, arms sales and geopolitical appropriation, which is martyring a heroic people," he said.

Separately, in a message for the Roman Catholic Church's upcoming World Day of the Poor, Francis lamented that Ukraine had been added to a list of regional wars.

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