A reporter on the ground in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city, says there is confusion after a Russian advance essentially stopped.
It comes as Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his country's nuclear deterrent forces put on high alert.
The president said aggressive statements by NATO leaders and economic sanctions against Moscow were behind the decision.
Speaking on state television on Sunday, he said: "As you can see, not only do Western countries take unfriendly measures against our country in the economic dimension - illegitimate sanctions that everyone knows about.
"But also the highest-ranking officials of leading NATO countries are allowing themselves to make aggressive statements in relation to our country.
"For this reason I order the minister of defence and the chief of general staff to put deterrent forces on special combat duty."
Jack Losh is around 30 miles from the Russian border, and told Newstalk Breakfast what happens next is vital.
"[Ukrainian] President Zelenskyy has described the next 24 hours as crucial.
"The next 24 hours are crucial, the last 24 hours have been crucial as well.
"The night before last the city got carpet bombed, we spent the night down in the underground carpark among some civilians.
"We woke yesterday to the news that the Russians had started their assault on the city."
He says there were concerns about what would happen if they reached the city centre.
"Would they swiftly take this second city, or would immense violence unfold with street battles between the civilian militias that formed here and the Ukrainian servicemen against this invading army?
"Those fears were all unfounded, at least as yesterday is concerned, and it was little more than a damp squib.
"The advancing Russian columns seem to be held off at the outskirts."
'It's very odd'
He says people are confused as to what is going on.
"It's very odd, and it's led to a lot of head-scratching here.
"It almost seems like a suicide mission - was it just to test the waters, was it to lower down defences and distract ahead of an even bigger advance?
"The sense has been that this city could soon become encircled and besieged, much in the same way that the capital Kyiv has been.
"What happens next is very uncertain; and certainly for myself and my colleague we're seeing a break in the violence here.
"And hoping to get out as soon as possible this morning".
While Russia's Central Bank has raised its key interest rate from 9.5% to 20% in an attempt to shore up the rouble after it plunged to a record low.
The currency plummeted after Western nations imposed new sanctions on the country for its invasion of Ukraine.
The rouble was down nearly 30% against the US dollar at one point, dropping as low as 119 per dollar in early Asian trading, passing its previous low of 90 roubles per dollar, before later recovering slightly to 109 roubles.
The Moscow Exchange said foreign exchange and money market trading would open three hours later than usual.
