Jack Russel awarded medal for bravery after sniffing out mines in Ukraine.

A tiny Jack Russell terrier has won hearts and admirers for helping neutralise hundreds of Russian explosives in Ukraine. Now he's won state honours, 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 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.

With his powerful snout and pint-sized protective vest, Patron has become a fixture of Ukraine's official social media channels and an international symbol of patriotism. He's even inspired an outpouring of fan art in the form of illustrations (ranging from poignant to tongue-in-cheek) and knit plushies. His official Instagram page has more than 220,000 followers.

Zelenskyy handed out the award at a news conference with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Kyiv, as Patron barked and wagged his tail enthusiastically. At one point, Trudeau laughed and pretended to check his pockets for treats.

In remarks later that day, Zelenskyy described Patron as "a small but very famous sapper," or military engineer.

"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 recognise and avoid explosive objects."

The 2-year-old terrier was professionally trained by cynologists to showcase how dogs can be trained to perform specific tasks, but pivoted at the start of the war to learning how to sniff out mines, according to TODAY Parents.

Iliev — who is from Chernihiv and has been doing this type of work since 2014 — initially bought Patron from a work colleague as a pet for his son. Now the two work together to neutralise mines and missiles left by Russian forces.

Here's how that works: Patron was trained to recognise the smell of gunpowder. When he smells it, he gives a signal to Iliev, who then works with his human teammates to find and defuse the devices.

Patron "gives rays of the sun, gives smiles and gives hope only for victory and peace on earth," Iliev told TODAY, adding that Patron will work "as long as our people need it."

When Patron isn't sniffing out explosives, he's out in the community doing charity work. That's according to Ukraine's Centre for Strategic Communications and Information Security, which shared picture of him greeting a child at a Kyiv hospital last month.

Watch Patron at work HERE