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President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Ukrainians will create their own miracle this Christmas by showing they remain unbowed despite Russian attacks that have plunged millions into darkness.
Key points:
- President Zelenskyy says the people of Ukraine will endure this winter as it fights Russia's invasion
- The Kyiv Opera Theatre held a Christmas show on an underground stage
- Russian missiles struck the recaptured Ukrainian city of Kherson, killing 10 people and injuring 58 others
Speaking 10 months to the day since Russia launched a war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions more, Mr Zelenskyy 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 Zelenskyy 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."
'Tree of Invincibility' a symbol of hope
Kyiv's Sophia Square, a place that usually celebrates the holiday season with thousands of lights spreading over the plaza, has seen its traditional big tree replaced with a more modest one this year.
It stands with blue and yellow lights barely breaking the gloom of the square that is otherwise dark apart from the headlights of cars.
Kyiv's Mayor Vitali Klitschko announced the installation of the Christmas tree, saying it was going to be named the "Tree of Invincibility."
"We decided that we wouldn't let Russia steal the celebration of Christmas and New Year from our children," he said.
The name, he added, was "because we Ukrainians cannot be broken."
On top of it, there is no star of Bethlehem's but instead a trident — Ukraine's symbol.
Holiday spirit tinged with sombre mood
Before Kyiv's government installed the tree, there was some debate about whether it was appropriate in a year that has brought so many tragedies and horrors.
Similar discussions happened all across the country, and some regions decided not have trees. Some people like the initiative.
"We are grateful that we can see at least something in such times," said Oleh Skakun, 56, during the unveiling of the tree on Monday.
But for some Ukrainians, it's hard to celebrate anything this Christmas.
Anna Holovina, 27, came to Sophia Square to see the tree, but said that she keeps thinking of her hometown in the Luhansk region, occupied by Russian forces since 2014.
"I feel sadness. I feel pain. I don't feel the holiday at all," she said.
"My family is in Kyiv, but my hometown has been occupied for the eighth year now."
Opera Theatre holds underground concert
As the war marked its 10-month anniversary on Christmas eve, the Kyiv Opera Theatre held a concert on an underground stage.
Artists sang Ukrainian versions of Jingle Bell Rock and It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year, among other internationally famous holiday songs.
Yevheniya Molchanova, 47, who attended with her daughter and her parents, was delighted by the show and expressed the need for some happiness during the holiday period.
"Despite the war, we want some holidays, some happiness," she said.
"We need also some positive emotions."
The concert was held underground for safety reasons and to avoid interruption by the air raid sirens that ring out almost daily in the capital.
The Kyiv Opera Theatre used to hold Christmas concerts around January 7, but changed this year to December 24 and 25.
For director Petro Kachanov the show must go on.
"We are putting on this concert for our audience who should be reminded that eventually, Christmas would come anyway, as will our victory," he said proudly.
Many of the theatre's staff come from areas heavily affected by the war.
Yevhen Bichasnyi was set to play the role of Santa in the Christmas Day play for young children, yet he feels he has nothing to celebrate.
His neighbour in his hometown of Kherson was killed only a few days ago, he said.
Deadly strike on Kherson leaves 10 dead
Another Russian strike on Kherson on Saturday killed at least 10 people and wounded 58, authorities said.
A pro-Moscow official said Ukrainian forces had launched the attack in a bid to blame the Russian military.
Mr Zelenskyy 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.
Vladimir Saldo, the region's Russian-installed governor, said Kyiv 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 passers-by.
Reuters was unable to independently verify the reports from Kherson.
Ukraine retook the city, the only regional capital Russia had captured since its February 24 invasion, in November.
Since then, Kyiv says Russian forces have heavily shelled the city from across the vast Dnipro river.
Three Ukrainian emergency services workers were also killed on Saturday when a mine exploded while they were de-mining parts of the Kherson region, said the emergency service of another region, in which they served.
Reuters/AP