Ukraine’s famous mine-sniffing dog visits war-wounded children in hospital
CISR
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(Metro) Young victims of the Ukraine war have had their spirits lifted by a surprise visit from the country’s most famous dog, a mine-sniffing Jack Russell named Patron.
Patron was hailed as a national hero after helping minesweepers detect more than 200 Russian landmines and unexploded bombs, and has appeared as a symbol of the Ukrainian resistance on billboards and official war broadcasts.
He was bought to win pedigree dog shows but his usefulness in the field instead landed him in Ukraine’s presidential palace when Volodymyr Zelensky handed him a medal for national service last month.
On Thursday the terrier travelled more than 400 miles from his hometown of Chernihiv to tour St Nicholas Children’s Hospital in Lviv.