Russia has strengthened the security of its base in Sevastopolin the annexed Crimea, with the help of dolphins specially trained to protect her from diversthe British government said today, confirming a return to this Cold War practice.

During a regular briefing on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the British Ministry of Defense explained that Russia has moved from the summer of 2022 to “majors” improvements to its main base in the Black Sea.

“This mechanism includes at least four layers of nets and floating barriers at the port entrance. In these last few weeks, these defenses were likely enhanced by an increased number of trained marine mammals.”as announced by the ministry via Twitter.

The use of marine mammals for military purposes is an old practice, in which armed forces had taken refuge in recent decadesespecially the American and Russian ones.

Crimea, a Ukrainian peninsula annexed by Russia in March 2014, has hosted a marine mammal training center since 1965

After the fall of the USSR in 1991, this center was also closed his dolphins were sold to Iran, according to Russian media. The Ukrainian Navy reopened the center in 2012, but after the annexation of the peninsula, the latter came under Moscow’s control.

In April 2022, the United States Naval Institute (USNI) claimed, using satellite imagery, that, at the time it launched its military offensive in Ukraine, Russia had set up two dolphin enclosures at its base in Crimea.

“In Arctic waters, the (Russian) Navy also uses belugas and seals,” the British ministry claimed today. “Russia has trained animals for a whole range of missionsbut those of the port of Sevastopol are probably intended to deal with hostile divers”.

Crimea serves as a rear base for Russian forces, mainly for sending reinforcements and maintaining equipment. It is regularly targeted by Ukrainian attacks, mainly by drones.