Putin calls up commando dolphins to thwart Ukrainian special forces

Naval News reports the pens have appeared at a time when Ukrainian commandos have been increasing their activity in the northern Black Sea.

The mammals have been taught to alert their human bosses to danger - or deliver lethal strikes from underwater guns.

The dolphins are trained for use against under water units intruding into harbours to plant mines or for reconnaissance operations.

“Trained dolphins are considered effective against military divers,” Naval News reports.

"There is no human, however athletic or well trained, who can out-swim them. And their inbuilt sonar gives them an even greater advantage.

“The dolphins are likely deployed to defend the ships there from divers with limpet mines. Or divers engaged in reconnaissance. When they detect an intruder they can mark it for their human colleagues to investigate, or possibly even deliver a lethal strike.

“They may also be patrolling along the coast where Ukrainian special forces are conducting raids on coastal installations.”

The Russians aren’t the only military force to use fishy battalions.

The US Navy trains dolphins and sea lions under the US Navy Marine Mammal Program, which is based in San Diego, California.

The Navy gets some of its dolphins from the Gulf of Mexico and military dolphins were used during the First and Second Gulf Wars, with their use dating back to the Vietnam War.

Meanwhile as the war in Ukraine drags on, the Embassy of Russia in Ireland has accused the Irish Government of “escalating” the war while also claiming Irish people are sending them letters of “support and sympathy”.

The letter reportedly stated: “Through the efforts of the Irish authorities, the rich and positive bilateral heritage has been dealt a blow - Russian-Irish cooperation in all, even purely humanitarian, areas is now frozen.

“The official reason is the conflict in Ukraine – which the Irish leadership helped the US Administration and the EU political elite to escalate.”

The Russian Embassy thanked the “many ordinary Irish citizens who continue to send us letters of support” and said “Irish people did not want” to see sanctions placed on Russia by the EU following its invasion of Ukraine.

However, results of a European survey released earlier this year show that more than three-quarters of Irish people support the EU’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Although Russia has repeatedly claimed that what it calls its “special military operation” does not target civilians, the UN has recorded 22,468 casualties, including 7,649 people killed in territory controlled by the Kyiv government since the invasion began.