russia has deployed military dolphins in the Black Sea near Sevastopol to protect its naval base. Two pens of dolphins have been at the entrance to Sevastopol Harbor since February 2022, writes The Guardian, citing the US Naval Institute.
russia has experience training dolphins for combat purposes. It uses them to remove objects from the depths or scare away enemy divers.
The Sevastopol naval base is located in the south of Crimea and is crucial for the russian military. Many ships stationed there are out of range of missiles but are potentially vulnerable to underwater attacks.
During the Cold War, both the United States and the Soviet Union trained dolphins whose sonar capabilities could detect underwater objects such as mines.