In Kyiv's usually busy centre, Khreshatyk Avenue and Maidan Square, once the centre of the Euromaidan protests in 2013 against Russia's influence in Ukraine's politics, stand empty as the fighting with Russia draws closer. Earlier, pre-dawn blasts in the capital set off a second day of violence after Russian President Vladimir Putin defied Western warnings to unleash a full-scale invasion on Thursday that quickly claimed dozens of lives and displaced at least 100,000 people. IMAGES