Sheltering in a basement in Kharkiv, Paula Reid tried to keep calm. The booms overhead were getting louder and she knew the hotel could be hit at any moment. Three weeks earlier, Paula, 56, had been sitting on her sofa in Hampshire watching the news about Ukraine. Now, she was in the thick of it.
As an adventurer, Paula is used to challenging situations. She’s swum with piranhas, skied to the South Pole and battled 70ft waves while taking part in the world’s toughest yacht race. But she had no experience of a war zone.
Appalled by the