British military spies on Friday said Russia appears to be training combat dolphins in the annexed Crimean peninsula to counter Ukrainian forces. In its latest update on the war in Ukraine, U.K. Defence Intelligence said the Russian Navy had invested heavily in security at the Black Sea Fleet’s main base at Sevastopol since last year.
“This includes at least four layers of nets and booms across the harbor entrance. In recent weeks, these defences have highly likely also been augmented by an increased number of trained marine mammals,” it added. “Imagery shows a near doubling of floating mammal pens in the harbor which highly likely contain bottle-nosed dolphins.”
The animals were “likely intended to counter enemy divers,” it added.
The Russian Navy has used beluga whales and seals for a range of missions in Arctic waters, the update said.