Satellite photos show militarized dolphin pens at a major Russian naval base in Sevastopol

Satellite images captured by Maxar Technologies show two pens containing trained dolphins belonging to the Russian Navy at the harbor of Sevastopol, Crimea, a major port on the Black Sea.

Russia has deployed the militarized dolphins to protect its Black Sea naval base by foiling Ukrainian undersea operations aimed at sabotaging Russian warships, USNI News, a news and analysis site by the US Naval Institute, reported.

According to the report, the pens were moved to the naval base in February following Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

The Russian navy has operated a trained marine mammal program in Sevastopol since the Cold War, with the units being transferred to the Ukrainian armed forces following the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, USNI News reported. Russia regained the units following the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and expanded operations ever since, according to the report.