Helping to sweep 200 explosive devices in Ukraine, Patron the Jack Russel recently received a presidential medal from President Zelenskyy.
Meaning “Ammo” in Ukrainian, Patron’s handler, Mykhailo Iliev of the Civil Protection Service, accepted the medal on the two-year-old pooch’s behalf in a news conference that included Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau.
“Today, I want to award those Ukrainian heroes who are already clearing our land of mines. And together with our heroes, a wonderful little sapper Patron who helps not only to neutralize explosives, but also to teach our children the necessary safety rules in areas where there is a mine threat,” Zelenskyy said in a statement after the ceremony.
The famous dog #Patron, who daily saves #Ukraine from the “gifts of the #Russian world”, fell asleep at a briefing with journalists. It seems like we won’t see anything better than this. pic.twitter.com/E44zZ8qJbA
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) May 8, 2022
Patron is well-known and has appeared in numerous stories on a range of outlets. His Instagram boasts 220,000 followers.
As a Jack Russel terrier, he’s one of the ultimate workhorse breeds. Bred for fox catching, and later for rat catching and travel, his powerful snout, endless energy, and smaller appetite make him ideal for mine sweeping yet that wasn’t supposed to be his destiny, as NPR reports that Iliev bought him originally to be nothing more than a loyal friend for his young son.
Patron the dog keeps working hard — just yesterday, he helped defuse 262 items of explosive ordnance near #Chernihiv. Our very happy boy is a source of pride. pic.twitter.com/hw4zyA8S9R
— Stratcom Centre UA (@StratcomCentre) May 1, 2022
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