Ukraine’s hero mine-sniffing dog Patron sends message to Putin to mark Independence Day

On Aug 24, 2022

Ukraine’s hero mine-sniffing dog Patron has sent a message to Vladimir Putin that Russia will ‘not succeed in occupying us’ as he posed in his favourite outfit to mark the country’s Independence Day.

Patron, a two-year-old Jack Russell who has been awarded a medal for valour by Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky, was pictured wearing a customised traditional Vyshyvanka shirt as he posed in front of Ukraine’s national flag.

The dog’s Twitter account warned that Russia will ‘never’ occupy Ukraine again in a post to mark the 31st anniversary of the country leaving the Soviet Union and gaining independence.

‘My country has been independent for 31 years. Again. The whole world has recognised this, and even those who now want to enslave us,’ the post read.

‘In the photo, I show them that they will not succeed in occupying us. Never again. Happy independence Day, my Ukraine. Love you.’

Patron, who has more than 44,000 followers on Twitter and 341,000 on Instagram, found fame when Ukraine’s State Emergency Service posted a video online of their mascot working in the war-torn northern city of Chernihiv to clear explosives.

Patron was originally bought to appear in pedigree dog shows, but has detected more than 200 deadly Russian landmines and unexploded bombs.

In his latest Twitter post, the dog is seen sitting on a table wearing customised embroidered Ukrainian clothes known as Vyshyvanka while trying to lick the photographer. A Vyshyvanka is a casual name for an embroidered shirt that is part of the country’s national costume.

Ukraine’s Independence Day falls exactly six months after Russia launched its brutal invasion that Zelensky said today has made his country feel ‘reborn’.

Celebrations will be muted, with public gatherings banned in Kyiv where a sea of destroyed Kremlin tanks have been displayed to the public, and a curfew is in force in the front-line eastern city of Kharkiv.

Meanwhile, Patron received a medal for valour at the presidential palace in Kyiv in May with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who was visiting, looking on.

Patron the two-year-old Jack Russell was recently awarded a medal for valour by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and is the star of billboards symbolising his country’s defiance of Vladimir Putin .

He received his medal at the presidential palace in Kyiv with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who was visiting, looking on (pictured)

Patron first found fame when Ukraine’s State Emergency Service posted a video online of their mascot working in the war-torn northern city of Chernihiv

His owner Mykhailo Iliev is a bomb disposal expert and soon after buying Patron he realised how helpful the dog could be in his work.

Mykhailo said: ‘This is his life, it is all he has known. It is just a matter of chance that we have such a capable dog. He is not a service dog, he is my pet, but he has an amazing nose and is an avid learner. He was meant to be a show dog but his destiny was to save people’s lives, not to win prizes.’

From six months, Patron was trained to detect TNT and gunpowder. When he does, he stops rigid and stands with his nose down until Mykhailo and his team approach.

But he can sometimes find his job exhausting.

‘Some days he is so tired that he does not eat his evening meal. He comes home, has a drink of water and just crashes out,’ says Mykhailo. ‘But he always wakes up excited to go again the next day.’

From six months, Patron was trained to detect TNT and gunpowder. When he does, he stops rigid and stands with his nose down until Mykhailo and his team approach

Meanwhile, Zelensky warned yesterday that Russia will use Independence Day to increase their savage attacks, with the President warning of the possibility of ‘repugnant Russian provocations’.

And violence predictably broke out this morning as a shopping centre in Donetsk was struck by missiles, as a huge team of firefighters battled to tackle the huge blaze.

Huge plumes of black smoke billowed from the Galaktika mall, as Russia accused Ukraine of bombarding the site in the separatist region, although it is not yet clear who carried out the attack or how many casualties there were.

In an emotional speech today, Zelensky said Ukrainians now believe the war will end when they secure victory rather than negotiate peace.

He said: ‘A new nation appeared in the world on February 24 at 4 in the morning. It was not born, but reborn. A nation that did not cry, scream or take fright. One that did not flee. Did not give up. And did not forget,’ he said.

Destroyed Russian military vehicles located on the main street Khreshchatyk are seen as part of the celebration of the Independence Day of Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his wife Olena attend a ceremony at a memorial wall displaying images of Ukrainian servicemen and servicewomen killed in the invasion

How Ukraine established independence

Ukraine celebrates its independence day on August 24 in commemoration of the Declaration of Independence in 1991.

The country had been a major power in the Soviet Union, becoming the center of its arms industry and a major political player.

But its output was redirected to the Soviet military and little was left for the Ukrainian population, and the quality of goods remained low compared to their neighbors.

The push for independence surged with the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986, and the subsequent demise of the Soviet Union.

In early 1990, over 300,000 Ukrainians linked arms in a human chain from Kyiv and Lviv as a show of unity against the Soviet bloc.

A student protest known as the Revolution of Granite took place in October 1990 to prevent a new union treaty with the USSR.

The country declared its independence in August 1991 and in December, a referendum backed the move with 90 percent approval, with majorities in every region including Crimea.

The Soviet Union then formally ceased to exist on December 26.

The 44-year-old wartime leader delivered the speech in his trademark combat fatigues in front of Kyiv’s central monument to independence from the Russia-controlled Soviet Union.

‘What for us is the end of the war? We used to say: peace. Now we say: victory,’ he said.

He continued: ‘We will not sit down at the negotiating table out of fear, with a gun pointed at our heads. For us, the most terrible iron is not missiles, aircraft and tanks, but shackles. Not trenches, but fetters,’ he said.

He and his wife later attended a service in Kyiv’s St. Sophia cathedral along with religious leaders from all of Ukraine’s major faiths.

Polish president Andrzej Duda echoed Zelensky’s sentiments, saying the entire territory of Ukraine including Crimea needs to be liberated.

He said at the summit yesterday: ‘Crimea is Ukraine. Just as Gdansk or Lublin are part of Poland, Crimea is and will be part of Ukraine.’

This morning, residents of Kyiv woke up to air raid sirens after the general staff had warned to take them seriously, saying: ‘Russian occupiers continue to carry out air and missile attacks on civilian objects on the territory of Ukraine. Do not ignore air raid signals.’

Zelensky told representatives of about 60 states and international organisations at a virtual summit on Crimea yesterday that Ukraine would drive Russian forces out of the peninsular by any means necessary, without consulting other countries beforehand.

A small number of residents gathered in Kyiv’s central square, where destroyed Russian tanks and mobile artillery were put on display over the weekend, and the national anthem is played every day at 7am local time.

‘I can’t sleep at night because of what I see and hear about what is being done in Ukraine,’ a retiree who identified herself only by her first name, Tetyana, said, her voice shaking with emotion.

‘This is not a war. It is the destruction of the Ukrainian people.’