Patron the bomb-sniffing dog cements his hero status with a presidential medal

Dog Patron called Bullet at an award ceremony for his owner, a sapper, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Sunday, May 8, 2022. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

A tiny Jack Russell terrier has won hearts and admirers for helping neutralize hundreds of Russian explosives in Ukraine. Now he’s won state honors, too.

Patron the bomb-sniffing dog — and his owner, Mykhailo Iliev of the Civil Protection Service— received a medal from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a news conference on Sunday, in recognition of their service to the country.

Patron, whose name means “ammo” in Ukrainian, is credited with detecting more than 200 undetonated explosive devices since the beginning of the war in late February, according to Reuters.