NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has spoken about his meeting with Ukraine’s most famous sapper — the Jack Russell Terrier named Patron. Their meeting occurred during his visit to Ukraine, he revealed at a panel discussion at the Munich Security Conference 2026, UNIAN reports.
Chernihiv Oblast between two dictatorships
According to Rutte, during the trip to Ukraine, he visited the Chernihiv Oblast, where he spoke with people affected by Russian strikes.
This is the only Ukrainian region bordering two dictatorships at once, Russia and Belarus — a zone of constant pressure and threat to northern Ukraine and all of Europe. Moscow has reportedly deployed the nuclear-capable intercontinental Oreshnik missile system there, which can reach any point in Europe.
Rutte says he met Patron there. He has called everyone who works there heroes: “rescuers, people who save lives, soldiers."
He noted that he looked into the Patron's eyes and saw the determination that Ukraine will never surrender.
A visit under air-raid sirens: when strikes do not stop even for NATO
On 3 February, the NATO Secretary General arrived in Kyiv and, speaking in the Ukrainian parliament, emphasized that support for the Armed Forces of Ukraine by Alliance members and partners remains a priority.
On the same day, Russia carried out one of its most massive combined attacks on Ukraine since the beginning of the year, using missiles of various types and hundreds of attack drones.
As a result of the attack, people were injured, and residential buildings and energy infrastructure were damaged. In Kyiv, fires broke out in high-rise buildings, and a kindergarten was damaged.
Usually, Russia refrains from large-scale strikes when high-ranking foreign delegations visit Ukraine, but not this time, which many perceived as an open show of disregard for NATO’s position.
Last year, US President Donald Trump was ready to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin to “look him in the eyes” and try to stop the war, as per the White House. Since then, there has been no progress toward peace: Russia has not withdrawn its troops from Ukraine and continues terrorist attacks against the civilian population.
