Edinburgh woman leading demining mission in Ukraine tells of own "near miss"
33-year-old Mairi Cunningham who is based in Leith says nothing could have prepared her for life in war-hit Ukraine
An Edinburgh woman who heads up a demining task force in Ukraine admits a tough job got even harder after Vladimir Putin launched his invasion of the country.
Mairi Cunningham has worked in some of the world’s most hazardous trouble spots, including Syria, Cambodia, Somaliland and the disputed Caucasus region of Abkhazia.
But the 33-year-old from Leith says nothing could have prepared her for life in war-hit Ukraine.
Mairi 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.
“I knew there were security challenges of a hostile neighbour, but I do not think anyone could have anticipated the situation was going to change so dramatically.
“We’ve been working next to the front line in the Donbas since 2016 and it had been a fairly entrenched front line for many years.
“I’ve worked in post conflict environments clearing up explosive ordnance, but suddenly living amongst an actual conflict of this scale adds a whole new dimension to the challenges of this job.”
Regaining a sense of normality
Mairi and her team of 400 deminers from Scottish charity The HALO Trust are playing a crucial role in helping people living around Kyiv attempt to get their lives back to some normality - removing the threat of mines and unexploded cluster munitions.
The programme manager was in Ukraine as Putin’s tanks mounted their invasion on February 24.
She said: “At the time it felt surreal. Cafés, bars and restaurants were open as normal and despite the news of troop build-up getting more and more alarming, even in the east we had staff telling us, ‘We’ve lived with this for years, what is different now?’.
“It was a stressful experience, but nothing compared to the ordeal of our colleagues who have lost loved-ones or been displaced from their homes.
“A staff member was killed in Mariupol during the bombardment and fighting there. The majority of our 30 staff in Mariupol made it out but we still have six who are unaccounted for and we’ve lost contact with.”
Mairi returned to Kyiv in April as the Russians were pushed back from the Ukrainian capital and HALO’s demining work resumed from May.
She said: “Since the Russians retreated you can understand why people just want to get back to some sense of normality and clearing unexploded ordnance plays a crucial role in helping with that.
“It is people – and children - trying to go about ordinary life who face this threat. Ukraine is littered with a colossal amount of mines, missiles and artillery."
"Near miss"
Mairi admitted she had her own near miss as the Russians bombarded the country with air strikes.
She said: “Although we are now far away from advancing Russian troops, we still face the threat of missile strikes across the country.
“I had an uncomfortably close shave in Lviv. I got delayed heading out for a run up a hill and it was hit with a missile strike at the very moment I’d have been there had I not been held up.
“The danger and unpredictability of the situation, it can get to you without you realising. There is this underlying threat and when you hear air raid sirens frequently.
“That threat is pervasive. You carry on as if life is normal and get reminders that life is not normal.”
Ongoing mission
The HALO Trust has been working in eastern Ukraine since 2016, and is now ridding areas around Kyiv of deadly explosive devices with support of £2 million funding from the UK Government.
The Scottish charity is also working to educate civilians, especially children, about the risks of landmines.
The UK’s overall demining funding to the country to date has resulted in 2.5 million m² of land cleared and in 2,862 education sessions, reaching over 130,000 people.
The UK’s Minister for Europe Graham Stuart said: “Putin’s illegal use of landmines in Ukraine is deliberately inflicting death and injury to innocent civilians.
“That is why the UK Government supports The HALO Trust’s world-leading demining work. Mairi’s team in Ukraine is saving lives and helping communities to rebuild their homes and livelihoods.
“We will continue to support the Ukrainian government in its fight against Putin’s illegal and inhumane war.”