A bomb-sniffing dog named Patron received state honors from the President of Ukraine

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has routinely ended his nightly wartime addresses by announcing state awards for Ukraine’s soldiers. On May 8, 2022, he honored a fighter, perhaps the country’s smallest one — a little dog named Patron.

Patron, whose name means ‘ammo’ in Ukrainian, helps sniff out Russian mines and explosives in the northeastern city of Chernihiv and acts as a mascot of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine.

The dog has found more than 200 explosive devices and was taught pyrotechnic work by his owner, Mykhailo Iliev of the Civil Protection Service of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

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