Russia announced it is taking over the Ukrainian military dolphin program. Previously when the program was directed by the Ukrainian Navy, trained dolphins used to find mines in water and track down divers.

Not only this, it is said that the dolphins were equipped with weapons meant to kill people and even capable of placing bomb on a submarine. Though the program was under the Soviet Union, after their collapse in 1991, the programme was under Ukrainian control.

A clip has revealed about the program when it was created in the 1960s. After watching the video, it could be said that it was a practically animal abuse. Many of the dolphins were from the black market. The wild dolphins were separated from their social group and were placed in a pen.

First task for trainers was to create a strong bond with the wild or captive dolphins. As per the video, trainers relied on fear and anxiety. They used to empty water from dolphins' pen to increase its resistance and used to put in a harness and muzzle.

Dolphins were also deprived of food. It used to get food rewards after completing tasks like killing enemy divers. "I could take a wild animal and turn it into a good military animal in three or four months", said military dolphin trainer Victor Grigoriev.

It is even said that electrodes were used to control the dolphins, but the trial let them face deaths of animals. In 1991, when the Soviet Union broke up, the base of the dolphin program remained in Sevastopol and it became the asset of the Ukrainian Navy.

In 2012, the Ukraine announced of revamping the program. As per the plans, dolphins would be again trained for counter-combat swimmer tasks to defend ships in port and raids. Now, Russia has taken over the programme, it is considered that animals would not be used as assassins or as subjects to extreme training techniques.