Gavin Mortimer Gavin Mortimer

Ukraine and a short history of dogs in war

Armies around the world have long used canines to sniff out trouble

(Instagram/patron_dsns)

In his own inimitable way, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has unleashed his dogs of war on Vladimir Putin and once again he’s pulled off a propaganda coup. The Russian President has in the past not been averse to using animals to his advantage; he posed topless on horseback, making the pulse race of every red-blooded Russian woman, and in 2007 he famously brought his pet labrador, Konni, to a meeting with Angela Merkel, fully aware that the then German chancellor had a fear of dogs.

Zelensky is more a Jack Russell guy and earlier this month he decorated one of Ukraine’s bravest of the breed – Patron, which means ‘ammo’ in Ukrainian. According to reports, Patron and his owner, Mykhailo Iliev of the Civil Protection Service, have between them detected and defused more than 200 undetonated explosive devices in the northern city of Chernihiv since the beginning of the war.

In recognition of their invaluable work, Zelensky presented a medal to Patron in the presence of Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau, whose country has provided some of the technology used by the Ukrainian bomb disposal units. Witnesses said that he was clearly excited during the service (Patron not Trudeau), and at one point ‘wagged his tail enthusiastically’.

Patron and his owner have between them detected and defused more than 200 undetonated explosive devices

The story has been covered by a plethora of media outlets in the West, some more mawkishly than others, but that shouldn’t trivialise the importance of what the Civil Protection Service has been doing in the last three months.

The British Army has long relied on man’s best friend to help them sniff out trouble. The Army Dog Unit of Northern Ireland was founded in May 1973 and during the Troubles two dogs and six handlers were killed on active service.

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