Russia is doubling its dolphin army to protect Crimea, images reveal

Russia has doubled the number of specially trained dolphins deployed to protect its Black Sea Fleet and annexed Crimea from Ukrainian attacks, images published by the British Ministry of Defence (MoD) show.

Militarized dolphins have been used by the Russian Navy to detect Ukrainian elite special forces divers throughout Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, but the number of its marine mammals in Sevastopol has doubled, the MoD said in its latest update on the conflict on Friday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky pledged last summer to reverse Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea. Extensive fortifications have been spotted along Crimea’s coast and the Russian Sevastopol naval base recently as Russia braces for a Ukrainian advance. Many fear that an attempt by Ukraine to recapture Crimea would be a red line for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“Since summer 2022, the Russian Navy has invested in major enhancements to the security of the Black Sea Fleet’s main base at Sevastopol,” the U.K.’s defense ministry said.

The MoD said this includes at least four layers of nets and booms across the Sevastopol harbor entrance.

“In recent weeks, these defences have highly likely also been augmented by an increased number of trained marine mammals,” it said. “Imagery shows a near doubling of floating mammal pens in the harbour which highly likely contain bottle-nosed dolphins.”

The images published by the MoD are dated April 10, 2023 and June 8, 2023. They show that the number of marine mammal pens at Sevastopol port has increased.

“In Arctic waters, the navy also uses Beluga whales and seals,” the MoD said.

The ministry said that while Russia has trained animals for a range of missions, the ones housed in Sevastopol harbor are highly likely intended to counter enemy divers.

Naval News reported on June 14 that the dolphins are part of a complex multi-layer defense that includes nets, floating barriers, anti-ship missiles, specialist artillery and S-300/S-400 long-range air defenses.

A beluga whale nicknamed Hvaldimir that was spotted off Norway wearing a harness in 2019, prompting speculation it was a spy trained by the Russian navy, reappeared off the Swedish coast last month, the Agence France-Presse news agency reported.

Zelensky said in April that a Ukrainian counteroffensive includes plans to liberate Crimea. He said his country’s success depends on the continued supply of arms by the West.

Oleksiy Arestovych, who served as Ukrainian presidential adviser until he resigned in January, said last month that Kyiv’s counteroffensive will target the strategically vital Kerch Strait Bridge, which connects Russia with Crimea. The bridge was damaged in an explosion last October that Putin blamed on Ukrainian secret services.

Newsweek has contacted Russia’s Defense Ministry via email for comment.

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