Scottish footballer helps to clear landmines in Ukraine

This is Kieran's second deployment to Ukraine supporting 400 de-miner's

Footballer Kieran McCulloch has returned home to Scotland after time spent supporting a landmine removal charity in Ukraine.

The Threave Rovers goalkeeper has been deployed to Ukraine twice with Dumfries-based charity the Halo Trust.

Kieran, who has worked for the charity in Somalia, Armenia and the West Bank, had not been in a live war-zone before.

He said it might sound strange but he found being a goalkeeper "a lot more stressful".

"If you've got the manager or the crowd screaming and bawling at you because you've not caught the ball properly, I find that more stressful than when an airstrike is coming," he said.

"If you make one mistake in goals then your team is 1-0 down and there's absolutely no hiding place.

"When you hear air raid sirens for the first time and get text alerts through saying 'take cover' that is where you realise you could be blown up any second."

"It's an unusual selection issue for a manager that one of your players is out in a war zone"

The Halo Trust, a Scottish charity with its headquarters based in Thornhill, near Dumfries, is ridding areas around Ukraine's capital Kyiv of deadly explosive devices planted during the Russian invasion.

Despite his positive attitude, Kieran, from Dumfries, said it was impossible to avoid the horrors of war in Ukraine.

Speaking about his first trip, he described driving through Irpin, on the outskirts of Kyiv, like "a full-on war zone".

"To see buildings burned to a crisp and the scale of that devastation with your own eyes is really shocking," he added.

"It could have been any street or retail park in Scotland except everything was burnt out."

Now back in Scotland, Kieran said his teammates at West of Scotland league side Threave Rovers, based in Castle Douglas, had been "100% supportive".

He said: "When I was out in Ukraine in May, the manager Vinnie Parker actually had to come out of retirement and get his gloves back on to play because our other goalie was also unavailable.

"It's an unusual selection issue for a manager that one of your players is out in a war zone."

The HALO Trust clearing a minefield in Lipivka

Kieran said his family were also worried about his safety when he was in Ukraine.

He said: "My girlfriend and parents obviously have that worry about me being in Ukraine because they see the worst of everything in the news, but we are nowhere near the worst of the fighting in the east.

"I tried to send them pictures of me doing normal things like going to the supermarket and things like that just to help calm their nerves a wee bit.

"Now I've survived a couple of trips, they are relaxing a little, but I suppose it's only natural for your loved ones to worry."

Kieran's work in Ukraine supports Halo's team of 400 de-miner's by supplying vital equipment like metal detectors, bullet-proof vests and armoured vehicles.

The Halo Trust are disposing of deadly explosives around Kyiv with the support of £2m funding from the UK government.

It has pledged £2.3bn in military support and £220m of humanitarian aid to help with the crisis.