Russia uses dolphins to protect its Black Sea Fleet base in Sevastopol – UK Intelligence

UK Defence Intelligence has reported that Russia has recently stepped up the defences of the Black Sea Fleet base in occupied Sevastopol, Crimea and is using common bottlenose dolphins to protect it.

Analysts note that Russia has been reinforcing security measures for the Black Sea Fleet base in occupied Sevastopol since the summer of 2022. These include at least four layers of nets and boom barriers at the entrance to the harbour, UK Defence Intelligence said, as reported by European Pravda.

The "defences" seems to have been recently expanded with more specially trained marine mammals.

"Imagery shows a near doubling of floating mammal pens in the harbour which highly likely contain bottle-nosed dolphins. In Arctic waters, the navy also uses Beluga whales and seals. Russia has trained animals for a range of missions, but the ones housed in Sevastopol harbour are highly likely intended to counter enemy divers," UK intelligence noted.

This week, the UK MoD also revealed Russian defensive fortifications in Crimea’s north.

Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 23 June 2023.

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