Ukraine battles Russian invasion, thousands flee fighting

Ukrainian forces battled Russian invaders on three sides after Moscow unleashed the biggest attack on a European state since World War Two, prompting tens of thousands of people to flee their homes. After Russian President Vladimir Putin declared war in a pre-dawn televised address, explosions and gunfire were heard through the day in Ukraine's capital and elsewhere in the country, with at least 70 people reported killed. The assault brought a calamitous end to weeks of fruitless diplomatic efforts by Western leaders to avert war over Russian demands for a redrawing of post-Cold War security arrangements in Europe.