Vladimir Putin’s massacred 80,000 dolphins and lots of extra animals in battle

Wildlife including thousands of dolphins have been massacred by Putin’s troops in his war against Ukraine.

Scientists say up to 80,000 dolphins have been killed on Ukraine’s Black Sea coast since the war began.

Rangers at an idyllic national park have reported finding an unprecedented number of dead dolphins washing ashore, reports The Times.

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The Tuzly Lagoons National Nature Park has been swarmed by Russian drones, which are difficult for Ukrainian troops to pinpoint because their humming echoes across the salt lake and marshland. Tuzly, which is in range of Russian bases in occupied Crimea, is home to 265 species including eagles, pelicans, beavers, jackals, swamp turtles and flamingos.

Scientists have blamed increasing dolphin deaths on the Russian navy’s use of sonar, as well as blasts from missile launches and explosions.

Iryna Vykhrystiuk, the national park’s manager, said: “The soldiers here told us that when there was bombing, they saw an incredible number of dolphins fleeing into the Danube river. Then we started finding dead dolphins – 122 times as many as in previous years.”

Dr Ivan Rusev, Tuzly park’s research director, said as many as 80,000 of the dolphins have been killed in the Black Sea, out of a population of around 300,000.

Soundwaves can damage the dolphins’ own sonar, which they use to navigate and detect prey.

It can also cause concussion which leads to the dolphins suffocating while submerged, according to a paper by Polish and Ukrainian scientists.

A scientific article with The Royal Society claims between 37,500 and 48,000 cetaceans were killed in the first three months of the war alone.

Other possible causes include the destruction of a dam in Nova Kakhovka last June, which would have swept toxins from industrial estates and cemeteries into the sea. Traces of these toxins have been found in the dolphin carcasses.

Russian strikes on Ukrainian ports and oil refineries in the area are also contaminating the environment.

Ukraine hopes it can one day take Russia’s war on wildlife – known as ‘ecocide’ before the International Criminal Court as war crimes. Richard Rogers, a British barrister who worked on war crimes incidents in the Balkans and Cambodia, said they hope the first prosecutions will be initiated within the next year.

Locals have also accused Russian troops of killing protected wildlife for food, and using Ukrainian national parks as artillery ranges. This has disrupted bird populations with some species, such as the dalmatian pelican, not returning to nest in the country.

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