In 2012, Ukraine allegedly "resurrected" the military dolphin program. After the 2014 annexation of Crimea, the Ukrainian dolphin program was taken over by Russia. Conflicting statements have been made regarding the fate of the dolphins. One claim is that the program had been demilitarized prior to the annexation, with all military dolphins either sold commercially or dead by natural causes. A counter-claim suggests that dolphins died patriotically after going on hunger strikes and resisting their Russian captors. Russia reportedly intended to used advanced technology to visualise the dolphin's biosonar signals in future military dolphin research.