October 19th 2023.
Vladimir Putin's navy has made a controversial move, relocating their fleet of combat dolphins to a location much closer to the front line in the Black Sea. The dolphins, which had already been deployed to guard the Black Sea Fleet's main base at Sevastopol port in Crimea, were shifted to Novoozerne, a former Soviet submarine base.
The satellite images have revealed the presence of floating pens at the new location, which is closer to where Ukrainian special forces have made incursions and landed on the Crimean Peninsula. According to OSINT researcher H I Sutton, the dolphins are likely to be used to detect enemy divers, plant limpet mines, or for reconnaissance.
The move comes after Putin was forced to shift the bulk of his warships from Sevastopol to Novorossiysk following several Ukrainian missile and drone strikes. The bottlenose dolphin squadron was first conscripted by the Russian president when he seized Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.
The dolphins are trained to use underwater guns, and can detect and attack military divers. This gives them an advantage over any human diver, as no one can outswim them. Retired Captain Yury Plyachenko, a military trainer, explained: ‘The dolphin should have signalled, and if necessary, it was ordered to destroy an underwater saboteur. It was armed with an underwater gun.’
The dolphin deployment to Novoozerne may suggest they are seen as militarily useful. This could indicate the Russians are worried about Ukraine targeting Crimea, and severing supply lines to the peninsula, as a prelude to recapturing the territory. Or, the move could be seen as a sign of desperation.
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