A small Jack Russell terrier named Patron (the word means “ammo” in Ukrainian) has been trained to sniff out explosives in Ukraine left by Russian forces to maim and kill. Patron is credited with detecting over 200 devices for effective neutralization by bomb squads.

Ukranian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, dressed in his casual wartime attire, recently presented Patron and his owner with a presidential medal for their heroism.

“A dog who helps clean our land from the traces of the occupiers, and who also helps teach children mine safety,” he said. “Due to the Russian invaders, this is now one of the most urgent tasks — to teach children to recognize and avoid explosive objects.”

Zelinsky talks frequently to his people with nightly news addresses, but he also walks among them, having refused evacuation when the war began.

Contrast this with the instigator of the war, Russian leader Vladimir Putin, sitting at a huge banquet table, several feet and sometimes more apart from the people he is talking to.

Or consider one of Putin’s earlier meetings with Andrea Merkel when he brought along his Labrador. Merkel, because of an attack by a dog earlier in her life, is extremely uncomfortable around them. Putin later denied that he had brought along his dog to discomfort Merkel.

At any rate, here is this short guy in work clothes giving a medal to a little dog who saves people’s lives by sniffing out explosives so they can be safely detonated.

I have a hard time imagining Vladimir Putin taking time to come out from his big table to present an award to a small dog.