· Russia's defense ministry said its forces in Ukraine would maintain a ceasefire it unilaterally declared in honor of Orthodox Christmas until midnight, despite Ukraine rejecting the truce offer.

· Despite the ceasefire shelling was filmed in the Ukrainian-held city of Bakhmut by Reuters. 

· The Russian-installed governor of the Crimean city of Sevastopol said on Saturday that air defences had shot down a drone in what he suggested was the latest attempted Ukrainian attack on a port where Russia's Black Sea Fleet is based.

· Justice ministers from around the world will gather in London to scale up the support being offered to the International Criminal Court in its investigations of alleged war crimes in Ukraine, the British government said on Saturday. READ MORE BELOW

· President Vladimir Putin praised the Russian Orthodox Church for supporting Moscow's forces fighting in Ukraine in an Orthodox Christmas message designed to rally people behind his vision of modern Russia, Reuters reported.

· The U.S. will provide more than $3.75 billion in military assistance to Ukraine and countries affected by the Russian invasion of its neighbour, Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced on Friday.

· Ukraine will need at least $1.79 billion to restore its telecommunications sector to pre-war levels, a U.N. agency said

IN DETAIL

Justice ministers from around the world will gather in London to scale up the support being offered to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in its investigations of alleged war crimes in Ukraine, the British government said on Saturday.

The meeting in March, which will be hosted by UK Justice Secretary Dominic Raab and his Dutch counterpart Dilan Yesilgoz-Zegerius, will be attended by ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan, according to a statement.

"Almost a year on from the illegal invasion, the international community must give its strongest backing to the ICC so war criminals can be held to account for the atrocities we're witnessing," said Raab, who is also the UK's deputy prime minister.

The meeting will seek to increase the global financial and practical support to the ICC and coordinate efforts to ensure it has all it needs to carry out investigations and prosecute those responsible, the statement said.

Russia, which calls its actions in Ukraine a "special military operation," has denied targeting civilians and other war crimes. Ukraine and the West say Moscow has no justification for what they say is an imperial-style war of occupation.

Video editor: Butchy Davy