Russia 2022: We will conquer Kyiv in three days. Russia 2023: Dolphins will defend Crimea

It appears that the Russians are so afraid of further Ukrainian raids on the western coast of Crimea that they are intensifying the use of military dolphins. According to informants, the animals were last seen at the naval base in the village of Novoozerne.

Vladimir Putin may be convincing in the media that Russia is winning the war, is not afraid of the ATACMS missiles with a range of 160 km delivered to Ukraine by the United States, and that its army is effectively opposing Kyiv's counteroffensive, but the truth is completely different.

The Kremlin is having problems delivering the necessary equipment to the front, the Ukrainians are making use of the American gift (as a result of the first attack of the new system, Russia lost nine helicopters), and subsequent successful attacks by Ukrainian forces on the western coast of Crimea are forcing Moscow to act. Especially since, according to recent findings by experts from the American Institute for War Studies (ISW), Russia is afraid of a "larger-scale Ukrainian operation" that could trigger an offensive on Crimea.

The Ukrainian army is retaking occupied regions

And no wonder, because the latest information suggests that Kyiv has launched an offensive on the Dnieper River in the eastern part of the Kherson Oblast.

Perhaps that is why the Russian command decided to transfer military dolphins from the Sevastopol area to the naval base in the village of Novoozerne in the north-western part of the peninsula. Analysts believe that in this way the Russians are trying to protect themselves from Ukrainian special forces, which have already carried out several successful special operations on site, because military dolphins are considered an effective weapon against, for example, divers.

The dolphin pens appeared at the base in August, were deployed in September, and now witnesses have seen animals in them - these dates coincide with the increased activity of Ukrainian forces in the Black Sea, i.e. seizures of offshore gas platforms and airstrikes on military targets along the coast.

Dolphins, seals and beluga whales are trained soldiers

What is worth emphasizing here is that the presence of military dolphins in the conflict is not surprising, because both the Soviet Union and the United States used them during the Cold War, training them in detecting submarines and mines, and detecting suspicious objects or people near ports and ships.

The Russians also trained other animals for a number of missions in Arctic waters, such as seals and Arctic beluga whales. In 2018, they boasted about a group of seals trained to plant bombs, make minor repairs to ships and "attack enemies with razor-sharp teeth."

In 2019, a beluga whale in a harness appeared off the coast of Norway (from which it was quickly released), raising suspicions of spying. Observers immediately named it Hvaldimir, combining the Norwegian word hval (whale) and the name of the Russian president.