A Russian strike on Ukraine's recently recaptured city of Kherson killed at least 10 people, wounded 58 and left bloodied corpses on the road, authorities said, in what Ukraine condemned as wanton killing for pleasure.
A pro-Moscow official responded by saying Ukrainian forces had launched the attack in a bid to blame the Russian military.
Fresh from a trip to the United States seeking weapons to resist the 10-month-old Russian invasion, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy published photos showing streets strewn with burning cars, smashed windows and bodies.
"Social networks will most likely mark these photos as 'sensitive content'. But this is not sensitive content – it is the real life of Ukraine and Ukrainians," he wrote.
"These are not military facilities. ... It is terror, it is killing for the sake of intimidation and pleasure."
Russia controls most but not all of Kherson region. Local Governor Yaroslav Yanushevych, appointed by Kyiv, told national television the death toll had risen to 10, Interfax Ukraine news agency said.
On the day marking 10 months since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, a string of shelling rained down around a busy market, where a fire erupted.
AFP journalists at the scene saw several bodies lying on the ground in the street, including a man killed in his car.
Another man, whose car had been blown up, had severe head injuries.
Cars also caught fire in a residential area of the city after shelling, the emergency services said.
Vladimir Saldo, the region's Russian-installed governor, claimed Ukraine had ordered troops to shell the city.
"This is a disgusting provocation with the obvious aim of blaming the Russian armed forces," he wrote on Telegram.
Yuriy Sobolevskyi, deputy chair of the regional council, said a missile landed next to a supermarket by the city's Freedom Square.
"There were civilians there, each of whom lived their own life, went about their own business," he said, noting a girl selling phone Sim cards, others unloading items from a truck, and passersby.
Reuters was unable to independently verify the reports from Kherson.
Ukraine retook the city, the only regional capital Russia had since its invasion on the 24th of February, in November.
Since then, Ukraine says Russian forces have heavily shelled the city from across the vast Dnipro river.
'Kill with impunity'
Ukrainian presidential aide Kyrylo Tymoshenko said the attack came from a Grad multiple rocket launcher.
Another aide, Mykhailo Podolyak, criticised those calling for Ukraine to seek peace talks with Russia, referencing Moscow's relentless pounding of Ukraine's power grid since October that has left millions without heat or water.
"I'll remind those who propose to take into account (Russian) 'peace' initiatives: Right now Russia is 'negotiating,' killing Kherson residents, wiping out Bakhmut, destroying Kyiv/Odesa grids, torturing civilians in Melitopol," Mr Podolyak wrote.
"Russia wants to kill with impunity. Shall we allow it?"
Mr Yanushevych had earlier shared a message from the city's blood bank calling for urgent donations.
Ukraine was still recovering from a wave of missile strikes earlier in the week, which knocked out half the city's power supply, according to Ukraine's prime minister.
'Christmas miracle'
Ukrainians will create their own miracle this Christmas by showing they remain unbowed despite Russian attacks that have plunged millions into darkness, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a defiant Christmas Eve message.
Speaking 10 months to the day since Russian launched a war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions more, Mr Zelensky said that while freedom came at a high price, slavery would cost even more.
"We endured at the beginning of the war - we withstood attacks, threats, nuclear blackmail, terror, missile strikes. We will endure this winter because we know what we are fighting for," he said.
Relentless Russian missile and drone attacks since October have caused massive damage to the power-generating system, regularly leaving major cities without water and heat.
Mr Zelensky made his remarks in a video address to Ukrainians who celebrate Christmas in December. Most Ukrainians are Orthodox Christians and mark the occasion in early January.
"Even in complete darkness, we will find each other to hug each other tightly. And if there is no heat, we will embrace each other for a long time to warm one another," he said.
"We will smile and be happy, as always. There is one difference - we will not wait for a miracle, since we are creating it ourselves."
The clip, which lasted just under nine minutes, was filmed outside at night with just a few white lights and a Christmas tree in the background.
Mr Zelensky noted Ukrainian troops were fighting battles in the eastern Donbas region while others were in exile both home and abroad, having fled the Russians.
"We have been fighting them for more than 300 days and eight years. Will we allow them to achieve what they want?" he said, referring to Russia's 2014 occupation of Crimea.
In September Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the annexation of four regions in the east and south of Ukraine, including Kherson, after Moscow proxies held referendums there - denounced as a sham by the Ukrainian government and the West.
His troops never fully controlled any of the territories and last month were forced to retreat from the Kherson region after a months-long Ukrainian counteroffensive.
But Kherson has been regularly bombarded ever since, with a heavy toll on civilians and the power supply to the city.
Yesterday alone the Kherson region was targeted by 74 Russian strikes, leaving five dead and 17 injured, according to regional authorities
On 15 December, Russian shelling killed two people including a Red Cross worker in Kherson and completely cut electricity as temperatures plunged below freezing.
Much of Ukraine is struggling without heat or power after Moscow started targeting electricity and water systems nearly two months ago.
The UN's human rights chief has warned the campaign has inflicted "extreme hardship" on Ukrainians this winter, and also decried likely war crimes by Russian forces.
Yesterday the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives has approved a €42bn ($45bn) aid package for Ukraine, as Mr Zelensky returned from Washington with the promise of Patriot missiles to help fend off Russia's invasion.
The measure, part of a €1.6tn ($1.7tn) government funding bill that passed the Senate a day earlier, will now go to President Joe Biden, who has said that he will immediately sign it into law.
The military and economic assistance follows US aid worth around €47bn ($50bn) sent to Ukraine this year, as well sanctions imposed on Russia by the West that now include a cap on Russian oil prices.
Russia responded to the cap by threatening to cut oil output by 5%-7% early next year through halting sales to countries that support the measure.
President Zelensky has long sought Patriot surface-to-air missiles to help counter Russian air strikes, which have razed cities, towns and villages during 10 months of conflict, and knocked out power and water supply across the country over the past three months.
Mr Zelensky said in his Telegram channel: "We are coming back from Washington with... something that will really help."
