Cynological pair prevented the importation of weapons and...

During only one combat duty, the canine pair of the 5th Slobozhan Brigade — National Guard officer Dmytro Kirichenko and service dog Irbis — twice prevented the importation of weapons and explosives into Kharkiv.

The first case happened in the morning. During the inspection of the transport, which was moving towards Kharkiv, a white Renault Master was stopped, which was carrying another minibus for repairs on the carriage. The driver behaved confidently.

“In such cases, we check both cars, but especially meticulously – the one that is leaving the war zone for repairs,” says Dmytro. all free space. That’s why I launched Irbis into this minibus, which is able to slip into any crevice. Suddenly, my partner sat down on the inside of the car and lifted his face, pointing his nose at the trim panel. Irbis behaved similarly when inspecting the exterior of the minibus.”

The guard had no doubts – there is a hiding place between the body of the minibus and the paneling. After removing the inner lining, the servicemen discovered two AKS-74 assault rifles, 1,530 pieces of 5.45 cartridges and a bayonet knife carefully hidden. Representatives of the National Police of Ukraine were called to the scene and seized weapons and ammunition. The carrier was also detained.

The second incident happened in the evening of the same day. A white Mercedes Sprinter was stopped for inspection, inside which the soldiers of our brigade noticed among a large number of bags a bag containing shell casings of various calibers.

“It became clear that before us are people who love military trophies. Irbis sniffed the whole load and returned to the two bags. He sat next to each of them and put his face on them. Two MON-50 and MON-90 mine casings were found in them,” Dmytro Kyrychenko comments on the case

Dmytro and Irbis have numerous dangerous finds. Thanks to their work, hundreds of grenades and fuses for them, thousands of cartridges, several kilograms of TNT, trophy automatic weapons and kilograms of narcotics were discovered.

“Irbis is my third hand, an additional nose and two more pairs of fast legs, it is an extension of myself, a part of me that is always nearby,” says Lieutenant Dmytro Kyrychenko about his partner. He is proud that Irbis was able to find even the “death of Koshchii”. “There was a case when Irbis found cartridges at the checkpoint that were hidden in a woman’s cosmetic bag, which was placed in a handbag, which, in turn, was packed in a large suitcase.”

We will remind: in October of this year, lieutenant of the 5th Slobozhan brigade of NSU Dmytro Kyrychenko and his four-legged partner Irbis became nominees of the “Four-legged defenders” award ceremony, which was organized by representatives of the All-Ukrainian public organization “Kinological Union of Ukraine”. They were recognized for their outstanding ability to detect explosive devices and weapons.