LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:
Good morning. I'm Linda Wertheimer. Russia took over many Ukrainian military assets when it annexed Crimea, including dolphins at the oceanarium in Sebastopol. Trained to locate enemy divers and carry spy equipment, Ukraine planned to shut down the combat dolphin program in April - too expensive. Now these dolphins will raise their fins to the Kremlin, which apparently does have the rubles to upgrade their gear. It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.