Russia has tightened security at its base in Sevastopol in annexed Crimea, with the help of specially trained dolphins to protect it from divers, the British government said, confirming a return to Cold War practice.

During the regular briefing on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the British Ministry of Defence explained that Russia has made major improvements to its main base in the Black Sea since the summer of 2022.

In particular, these include at least four layers of nets and floating barriers at the harbor entrance, and in recent weeks, these defences have likely been strengthened by an increased number of trained marine mammals, the Ministry announced.

The use of marine mammals for military purposes is an old practice, resorted to in recent decades by Armed Forces, especially the US 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 closed and its 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 photos that at the time it launched its military offensive in Ukraine, Russia had set up two fenced dolphin enclosures at its base in Crimea.

In Arctic waters, the Russian Navy also uses belugas and seals, the British Ministry further argued. Russia has trained animals for a whole range of missions, but those in the port of Sevastopol are most likely intended to deal with hostile divers.

Crimea serves as a rear base for Russian forces, mainly for sending reinforcements and maintaining equipment, and is regularly the target of Ukrainian attacks, mainly by UAVs.

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