
Ukrainians and Russians have marked Orthodox Christmas under the shadow of war, as reports of fighting come from the eastern Donbas region despite Russian President Vladimir Putin unilaterally ordering his forces to pause attacks.
Ukraine rejected the purported 36-hour ceasefire from midday on Friday to mark Orthodox Christmas, with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy describing it as a ploy by Putin to buy time to reinforce troops that have taken heavy losses this week.