Air raid sirens are sounding across Ukraine, including capital Kyiv, amid fears Vladimir Putin's bloodthirsty forces are geared for an attack on Christmas Day.
Citizens in the war-torn country are marking their first Christmas since the invasion in February, a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the world must understand the "absolute evil" they face.
Bombing has been carried out this weekend in the recently liberated city of Kherson, claiming at least 10 lives, in what Mr Zelensky described as an act of terror.
The Ukrainian President posted on Telegram yesterday: “This is not a war according to the rules defined.
“It is terror, it is killing for the sake of intimidation and pleasure. The world must see and understand what absolute evil we are fighting against.”
This morning people living in Kyiv woke up to the familiar sound of sirens, and unconfirmed rumours spread of explosions heard from the capital.
Diplomat Inna Yehorova posted on Twitter: "Christmas morning began with the air alert in Kyiv and the entire country. Can't stand that horrible sound and the threat it warns."
Mr Zelensky wrote: “With the holiday season fast approaching, the Russian terrorists could again step up their activities.
"They have no regard for Christian values or any values for that matter.”
Ukraine has faced an onslaught of Russian artillery fire, missiles, shelling and drone attacks since early October, much of it targeting energy infrastructure in a bid to cut electricity and heating services as the freezing winter advances.
The shelling has been especially intense in Kherson since Russian forces withdrew and Ukraine's army reclaimed the city in November.
Earlier yesterday, the Donetsk regional governor, Pavlo Kyrylenko, said two people had been killed and five wounded in shelling there over the past day.
The deaths were in Kurakhove, a town of about 20,000 which is 18 miles west of the Russian-controlled city of Donetsk.
About 60 shells hit three communities during the night in the area of Nikopol, said Dnipropetrovsk regional governor Valentyn Reznichenko.
Stepne, a settlement on the outskirts of Zaporizhzhia, was also hit by shelling but there were no details on casualties, according to governor Oleksander Starukh.
