A British aid worker has spent Christmas Day under rocket and drone attack on the front line in Ukraine after Vladimir Putin‘s forces ordered an “evil” attack on civilians.

Dad-of-four Pete Masters, 55, from Hereford, is on his 10th aid trip to Ukraine. He works with a church group to deliver food and medical supplies and help evacuate civilians in the far east of the country.

Mr Masters told Express.co.uk the area were he is staying close to the city of Sloviansk has been under “non-stop bombardment” but that those he was sheltering with still managed to sing songs and have a meal in the basement.

Mr Masters, who has a JustGiving page, said: “The area got hit last night with Russian drones, very close to the church, you could hear the drones and then you could hear the small arms fire from the Ukrainians taking them out.

“We were all in the basement having a sing song for about an hour to shelter. Christmas morning I was up at 5am. It’s been non-stop bombardment all day.

“Sloviansk has had no power all day, the whole city, but luckily a lot of places have back-up generators and batteries.”

Staying at the church was a local choir who Mr Masters recorded singing songs over dinner as the Russian attack continued outside.

Mr Masters said he hoped 2025 would bring peace to Ukraine to stop Putin “mudering people”. He added: “I just want some sort of resolution for Ukraine, they are my friends.”

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said that over 70 missiles and 100 drones were unleashed on his country today (December 25) and labelled Putin as “evil”.

Mr Zelensky said: “Every massive Russian strike requires time for preparation. It is never a spontaneous decision. It is a deliberate choice – not only of targets but also of timing and date.

“Today, Putin deliberately chose Christmas for an attack. What could be more inhumane? Over 70 missiles, including ballistic ones, and more than a hundred attack drones. The targets are our energy infrastructure. They continue to fight for a blackout in Ukraine.

“According to preliminary reports, our defenders managed to shoot down more than 50 missiles and a significant number of drones. Unfortunately, there have been hits.

“As of now, there are power outages in several regions. Power engineers are working to restore power supply as soon as possible.”

“I thank everyone who is working for the country, who is on combat duty, who is protecting our skies. We will restore the maximum. Russian evil will not break Ukraine and will not spoil Christmas.”