Since February 24, more than 120 dolphins have been found in Odesa region. They died due to the use of sonar by Russian ships, according to The Odessa Journal, which cites Rador.

This was announced at a press conference in the “Ukraine-Odesa” press center by the head of the Odesa Regional Prosecutor’s Office, Serhiy Kostenko. He stated that after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, local residents of the Odesa region found numerous dead cetaceans and live animals washed ashore on the shores of the Black Sea.

“This fact indicates the atypical behavior of some animals that received acoustic trauma,” Kostenko said. He added that similar phenomena were registered in other countries, especially in Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey.

He also noted that the investigation under Article 441 (ecocide) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine regarding the mass death of dolphins on the Black Sea coast in Odesa region is ongoing. According to Kostenko, experts collected body samples and sent them to specialized institutes in Italy and Germany. They will determine the cause of death of animals.

“But the main conclusion of the investigation is that the dolphins suffered acoustic injuries due to the massive use of sonar by Russian warships,” the prosecutor said. According to experts, these devices affect the hearing organs of dolphins, which then leads to their death. Now the investigators are waiting for the results of the examination.

Over 80 species of animals in Ukraine are on the verge of extinction due to the war. The occupiers have deliberately bombed nature reserves, zoos and shelters, having already killed more than 10 million animals.

At the beginning of December, there was a case of mass death of birds in the Limanele Tuzlei Nature Reserve [pe coasta Mării Negre, între Dunăre și Nistru – n.trad.]. The Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine has already notified the police. In addition, the Russians brutally killed several rare birds on the Arabat Mile [în Marea Azov – n.trad.].