A Russian whale who spied for the Russian Federation was found dead
2.09.2024 - 09:41
A beluga whale named Khvaldimir, who was considered a trained whale of the Russian special services, was found dead off the coast of Norway.
It will be recalled that in 2019, fishermen spotted a beluga whale near the northern Norwegian province of Finnmark. Straps and a camera were spotted on the animal, which, as Norwegian special services discovered, were installed for espionage.
Now Hvaldimir was found near the Oslo Fjord, a fjord in southeastern Norway, Reuters writes. Biologist Sebastian Strand, who has cared for the beluga in recent years, said that the animal’s body showed no signs of injury, but it was taken away for further examination.
It is believed that Khvaldimir (which is a combination of the word hval, which means “whale” in Norwegian) and the name of the president of the Russian Federation) was part of Russia’s research program on the use of whales for maritime espionage.
Moscow has not released any official response to Norway’s suggestion that the whale was a Russian spy.
It should be noted that the Barents Sea, where Khvaldimir was located, is a strategic geopolitical area where there is a lot of movement of Western and Russian submarines.
USM previously reported that thousands of dolphins died in the Black Sea because of Russian ships.
