Putin doubles ‘dolphin army to protect annexed Crimea and major navy base’
Russia has doubled the number of aquatic recruits in its dolphin army in an attempt to protect the annexed region of Crimea, as well as a key naval base in the Black Sea, according to the UK’s Ministry of Defence.
The MoD shared satellite images that appeared to suggest that Russia has increased the number of marine mammal pens at the port of Sevastopol, according to its latest intelligence update.
The MoD said today (June 23) that Russia has been expanding its security arrangements in the Black Sea since at least summer 2022.
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“This includes at least four layers of nets and booms across the harbour entrance. In recent weeks, these defences have highly likely also been augmented by an increased number of trained marine mammals.
“Imagery shows a near doubling of floating mammal pens in the harbour which highly likely contain bottle-nosed dolphins,” it added.
Claims of the upgraded mammal military were first made byNaval News, which claimed that the number of pens went from three to seven.
Sevastopol has been hugely important to the region for centuries. It is currently the base of operations of Russia's Black Sea fleet thanks to a deal following the collapse of the Soviet Union, which allowed Russia to lease an official base in the port city until 2042.
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It is currently Russia’s only warm-water base, as the rest of the country is surrounded by icy waters, which are incredibly difficult to traverse even with specialist equipment.
During its time in Sevastopol, the Russian navy actively helped Syria and Venezuela by helping them with “logistics and repair services in their principal ports.”
On top of this, it has been claimed that Sevastopol was the main point of contact for supplying Syrian dictator Bashir al Assad in his sick civil war against his own people.
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