Russia is reportedly using trained dolphins to protect a Black Sea Kremlin naval base, according to a naval analyst.
Satellite images could prove the marine mammals are being used as two water pens have been spotted at the entrance to Sevastopol harbor in Crimea — which Russian forces annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
According to submarine analyst H I Sutton, the pens were moved there in February - around the time Russia began its invasion of Ukraine.
Sutton said the dolphins could be used to counter specialist Ukrainian divers attempting to enter the port to sabotage Russia's warships.
Maxar Technologies, specialists in satellite technology, agreed the possible explanation for the dolphin pens, confirming the finding in an email to The Washington Post.
Other countries have a history of using marine animals as part of its defence tactics.
Since the 1960s, the United States has trained dolphins and sea lions to help guard against underwater threats.
Dolphins are believed to have have the most sophisticated sonar known to science, allowing them to easily detect mines and or dangerous missiles underwater.
It comes after Russia's Moskva warship sank earlier this month, killing at least 40 sailors - after being hit by a Ukrainian missile (Russia denies this).
The ship went down in the Black Sea last week after Kyiv said it launched a rocket strike, although the Kremlin claims the vessel was destroyed in an accident.
An anonymous conscript survivor was in tears as he told his mother of at least 40 crew members killed at the time, with “many missing” and maimed with lost limbs after a missile strike by the Ukrainians.
Parents of another conscript say they have found out some 200 were wounded - many with horrific burns and other major injuries.
The new accounts strongly dispute the official Russian version of the loss of Vladimir Putin ’s Black Sea Fleet flagship.
It remains unclear how many of the crew survived the sinking amid claims the dead may run into the hundreds. Russia has not revealed any information about survivors.
