Patron the Jack Russell is honoured at Cannes Film Festival for digging up Russian mines in Ukraine

Ukraine‘s celebrity sniffer dog Patron has been given an award at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival for his work digging up Russian mines.

The Jack Russell, which has more than 270,000 Instagram followers, won the Palm Dog-manitarian prize which recognises the connection between humanity and dogs.

Thanking the organisers, Patron’s handler, Mykhailo Iliev, said: ‘We would love Patron to visit Cannes, but he has a lot of work to do here.’

Ukraine’s celebrity sniffer dog, two-year-old Patron (pictured), who has 270,000 Instagram followers, has been given an award at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival for his work digging up Russian mines

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Thanking the organisers, Patron’s handler, Mykhailo Iliev, said: ‘We would love Patron to visit Cannes, but he has a lot of work to do here’

The award was inaugurated in 2001 and picked up on Patron’s behalf by Kateryna Tretyakova, a member of the Ukrainian National Pavilion, who said: ‘This is dedicated to all defenders of Ukraine and defenders of a peaceful world.’

Earlier this month, The Mail on Sunday spent a day with Patron, who weighs just 4kg, as he worked to clear Russian munitions near the war-torn northern city of Chernihiv.

The two-year-old terrier has already received a medal for valour from Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky and features as a symbol of defiance on billboards across the country.

The award was inaugurated in 2001 and picked up on Patron’s behalf by Kateryna Tretyakova, a member of the Ukrainian National Pavilion, who said: ‘This is dedicated to all defenders of Ukraine and defenders of a peaceful world’