Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has awarded a Jack Russell Terrier dog an award for his bomb-sniffing skills.
Patron, has apparently discovered hundreds of explosive devices since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, says Kyiv.
The fluffy, deadly device discoverer was awarded what a medal by the Ukrainian leader, who was also accompanied by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, on Sunday.
In a video posted on Telegram by the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, the two-year-old Terrier is seen excitedly wagged his tail as his handler received the medal and the audience applauded.
Patron is based in Chernihiv, northern Ukraine, close to the Russian and Belarusian borders.
In a tweet on 21 April, Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs posted a picture of the sleeping dog, captioned: “Patron is a service dog in Cherhiniv. He has discovered over 150 explosive devices in Ukraine since full scale Russian invasion began.
“Patron works closely with deminers to make Ukrainian cities safe again. Thank you so much for your service!”
In a separate tweet on 1 May, Ukraine’s Centre for Strategic Communications and Information Security shared a clip of Patron digging for explosives.
They said: “Patron the dog keeps working hard — just yesterday, he helped defuse 262 items of explosive ordnance near Cherhiniv. We are very proud of our very good boy.”
The dog is also a social media sensation, with over 215,000 followers on Instagram and 13,000 followers on Twitter.
Chernihiv has been hit particularly hard during the war.
The city’s mayor, Vladyslav Atroshenko, says at least 70 per cent of the city has been destroyed since Russia invaded Ukraine in February.
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