Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday blasted Russian “terror” after shelling left at least five dead and 20 injured in Kherson city, which Kyiv’s forces recaptured in November.

“Kherson. In the morning, on Saturday, on the eve of Christmas, in the central part of the city,” Zelensky said on Telegram, publishing images of the attack and calling the attack “killing for the sake of intimidation and pleasure.”

“It is the real life of Ukraine… The world must see and understand what absolute evil we are fighting against,” Zelensky said.

On the day marking ten months since the beginning of the war, a string of shelling rained down around a busy Saturday market in Kherson, where a fire erupted.

AFP journalists at the scene saw several bodies laying on the ground, including a man killed in his car near the market.

Another man, whose car had been blown up, had severe head injuries.

“We know of at least five dead and 20 injured,” the Deputy Head of Presidency Kyrylo Tymoshenko said on Telegram.

Despite Russia’s retreat from the southern port city in November, Kherson remains within reach of Moscow’s weaponry and under constant threat.

On December 15, Russian shelling killed two people including a Red Cross worker in Kherson and completely cut power in the southern city.