Mystery around 'Putin's spy whale' may have been solved – Metro.co.uk
NEWS… BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT
‘A whale deployed by Vladimir Putin as a Russian spy’ – it seems like a chapter of an alternative version of John le Carré’s novel ‘Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy’.
It has long been alleged that a beluga whale was conducting maritime espionage for the Kremlin in the Arctic.
Nicknamed Hvaldimir – a combination of Putin’s first name and the Norwegian word for whale, ‘hval’ – it was first spotted in the waters around Norway five years ago it.
What ignited speculation that the mammal was a Russian agent was the harness around its neck which had the words ‘Equipment of St Petersburg’ on it.
Now, an expert in the species has spoken out about the mystery surrounding the whale, which was found dead in September.
Dr Olga Shpak, who worked in Russia researching marine mammals from the 1990s before returning to her native country, Ukraine, in 2022, believes that the animal did belong to the military and escaped from its naval base in the Arctic Circle.
But she told the BBC that she does not think Hvaladimir was a spy. Instead, the whale was being trained to guard the base.
Dr Shpak did not want to name her sources in Russia for their own safety but said she had been told that when the beluga surfaced in Norway, the Russian marine mammal community immediately identified it as one of theirs.
‘Through the chain of vets and trainers the message came back – that they were missing a beluga,’ she says.
The expert believes Hvaldimir fled from the military site in the Russian Arctic as it was a ‘hooligan’.
She added: ‘What I have heard from the guys at the commercial dolphinarium who used to have him was that it was smart, so a good choice to be trained.
‘But at the same time, he was kind of like a hooligan – an active beluga – so they were not surprised that he gave up on (following) the boat and went where he wanted to.’
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After Hvaldimir was found dead in Norway’s Risavika Bay in September, it was lifted out of the water with a crane and taken to a nearby harbour where experts will examine it.
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An autopsy was carried out by veterinarians following his death, which animal rights groups say ‘clearly’ shows its body riddled with bullets.
When I saw his body and the multiple injuries, I immediately knew he had been killed by gunshots,’ said Regina Haug, founder of animal rights group OneWhale, which had been involved in the protection of Hvaldimir.
‘I even saw a bullet lodged in his body,’ she continued. ‘There is no question that this kind, gentle animal was senselessly murdered.’
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