Defiance, patriotism and cool heads on show on the streets of Kyiv as threat of Russian invasion looms

On the walls of St. Michael's monastery in Kyiv, there is a graphic and sad reminder of the toll of eight years of conflict in eastern Ukraine.

A total of 4,480 faces stare into the frigid air -- the photographs of the servicemen and women who have died on the frontlines of a conflict of mud, trenches and abandoned villages that could have been conjured from 1917.

People gaze solemnly at those faces -- the sons and daughters stolen away -- as traffic churns through the winter slush. Snow piles up against the walls, and the golden domes of the monastery glint in a pale winter sun.