Booby traps, buildings with 'missing teeth' and a dog howling in fear... a Manchester photographer in Ukraine

As the camera clicked, Valera’s dog began to howl. "He thinks it’s gunfire."

Having lived through the bombardment of his Ukrainian town by Russian forces, Valera's beloved pet, Bars, is timid, traumatised and afraid. He howls in fear at any noise.

This was a conversation recounted by Manchester photographer Sean Sutton following his visit to the war-torn country last month, with the Mines Advisory Group (MAG).

Sean has worked in conflict zones across the globe, from Syria to Angola, but says no two scenarios are the same. The sheer scale of the destruction in Ukraine has taken him aback.

MAG, which is based on Peter Street in Manchester city centre, will soon start work in Ukraine, clearing landmines and explosives and delivering risk education. They will work long-term with non-profit Ukrainian Deminers Association (UDA) .

The work is much needed. That much was obvious to Sean when he visited the town of Irpin and found an unusual booby trap.

“We met a woman sweeping up glass and got talking to her. I was part of the assessment team so I was with a technical operations manager, thankfully.

“These women had fled when the building next door was hit a few times, but they came back for their cats. As we were talking to this lady, her friend came out and asked if we could have a look at something.”

Close to a damaged wall and behind a wedged door, the neighbours pointed to a hand grenade perched precariously atop a large water bottle.

“We could see through the crack the hand grenade on top of a water dispenser,” Sean says.

“We said ‘don’t go anywhere near this room and make sure no one else does’. We couldn’t do anything with it without our kit, but they had already reported it. They have done the right thing.

“You