Russia has deployed skilled navy dolphins to guard a Black Sea naval base throughout its invasion of Ukraine, in line with evaluation of satellite tv for pc photographs.
The US Naval Institute examined satellite tv for pc imagery captured by Maxar Applied sciences of Sevastopol, Crimea, and located two dolphin pens have been positioned by the Russian Navy on the harbour of the most important port metropolis.
They have been moved there in February – across the time Russia launched its assault on its neighbour.
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Animals in marine mammal programmes are skilled to carry out duties comparable to mine detection, ship and harbour safety, and to search out enemy fight divers.
“This might stop Ukrainian particular operations forces from infiltrating the harbour underwater to sabotage warships,” stated the USNI News report.
It’s unclear whether or not Ukraine has deliberate any such operations concentrating on Sevastopol, it stated.
Whereas a number of of the Russian ships on the base are out of vary of Ukrainian missiles, they’re probably susceptible to “undersea sabotage”, in line with the report.
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The Russian Navy has operated such a programme in Sevastopol for the reason that Chilly Warfare, with the models being transferred to the Ukrainian armed forces following the autumn of the Soviet Union in 1991, the report stated.
The models got here below Russian Navy management following Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the programmes have been expanded since, it added.
The US can be identified to run its personal marine mammal programme.
