A brave Scots woman who is helping clear landmines in Ukraine amidst Putin’s invasion has told how she was just minutes away from being hit by a Russian airstrike. Mairi Cunningham, from Broughty Ferry, near Dundee, is leading the HALO Trust’s demining task force and admits that the risky job has got even harder after the war broke out.
The 33-year-old has worked in some of the world’s most hazardous trouble spots, including Syria, Cambodia, Somaliland and the disputed Caucasus region of Abkhazia. But she admits that nothing could have prepared her for life in war-stricken Ukraine as she and her team face the ongoing threat from the hostile neighbour.
She said: “When I took on this role in November no-one could have imagined how things would unfold. This is not exactly what I signed up for.
