THE US NAVAL Institute (USNI) has said new analysis of satellite images shows Russia has deployed trained military dolphins at its naval base in the Black Sea.  

The images show that two dolphin pens were moved to the entrance to Sevastopol harbour in February, around the time of the invasion of Ukraine. 

USNI said the dolphins may be tasked with counter-diver operations, which is a that role both the US and Russia have trained marine mammals for. It said this could prevent Ukrainian special operations forces from infiltrating the harbour underwater to sabotage warships.

The US navy has trained sea lions and dolphins since 1959 while, during the Cold War, the Soviet Navy also trained dolphins.

Dolphins possess sophisticated sonar which helps them detect mines on the ocean floor. They can dive incredibly deeply and, like sea lions, have low light vision and underwater directional hearing .

Dolphins are usually trained to detect and mark dangerous object underwater and alert naval officers to unauthorised swimmers or divers. 

During the Cold War the Soviet Navy’s dolphin unit in the Black Sea was based at Kazachya Bukhta near Sevastopol.

This unit transitioned to the Ukrainian military after the collapse of the Soviety Union in 1991, but came under Russian control after the 2014 annexation of Crimea.