Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the Russian bombing on Saturday, describing it as "terrorism," which targeted the city of Kherson in the south of the country where at least ten people were killed and 55 others injured after ten months of the invasion.

Zelensky said via social media: "Saturday morning on Christmas Eve in the city center. These are not military facilities. This is not war as commonly understood. It is terrorism and killing to intimidate and relish" the killing."

For his part, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Twitter, "At a time when families in Europe, North America, and beyond are preparing a festive dinner, think of Ukraine that is fighting evil."

Meanwhile, Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov considered the strike on Kherson "revenge on its residents who resisted the Russian occupation."

In the latest toll, Kherson regional governor Yaroslav Yanushevych said Saturday evening: "Currently, we have 55 injured... and 10 dead. Among the injured, 18 are in serious condition."

The AFP team in Kherson witnessed several bodies scattered on the ground.

Also, AFP reporters near the Kherson market saw a man seriously injured in the head after his car was damaged by the blast. Meanwhile, the body of a woman wearing a red coat lay a few meters away with her arms stretched out. A paramedic was examining a crying person nearby.

Flames rose from the market which attracts shoppers on Saturday morning in the heart of Kherson, which was liberated by the Ukrainian army on November 11 after eight months of Russian occupation and following a large-scale counterattack. Rescue workers reported "66 cars burned" in this bombing.

The Russian army did not comment on the matter even by Saturday afternoon. However, the head of the regional administration in Kherson appointed by Moscow, Vladimir Saldo, blamed the attack on the Ukrainian army, criticizing "a disgusting provocation aimed, of course, at blaming the armed forces of the Russian Federation."