The Russian-issued and unilateral ceasefire during the Russian Orthodox Christmas holiday was questioned early on by both the outside world and Ukraine as a strategic ploy on Russia's part.
"There is one word that best describes this and that is 'cynical,'" Ned Price, a spokesman for the US State Department, said of Putin's plans on Friday.
And it wasn't long before the first reports of Russian artillery fire were reported.
39 shelling in Kherson
Among other things, a fire station in Kherson is said to have been attacked on Friday.
Several people are said to have been injured and one firefighter died.
“They are talking about a truce.
This shows who we are at war with," Kyrylo Tymoshenko, adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said in a statement.
According to Governor Jaroslav Janusjevytj, Kherson in particular has been shelled on at least 39 occasions in the past 24 hours.
Shelling from both sides in Bachmut
Further north, in Kharkiv, the Russian forces have shelled several already war-torn towns around Kupyansk, according to the region's governor.
In the heavily contested Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, the news agency AFP's correspondent reports on continued heavy shelling from both sides.
- If you promise something, you have to keep it, says 75-year-old Olha to the news agency Reuters - and then suddenly it starts banging intensely and the interview has to be interrupted.
Two civilian deaths are reported from Donetsk.
Russia: Sticking to the ceasefire
Meanwhile, the Russian military claims that its forces are sticking to the ceasefire until midnight today, Saturday - and that the latest Russian attacks are self-defence.
In a statement from the Russian Defense Forces, Ukraine is accused of shelling several "civilian areas" during Friday and Saturday.