In Moscow, Russians celebrated the 70th anniversary of WWII Victory Day with a massive parade. In the Siberian town of Irkutsk, two seals at a local aquatic park put on a show.
The Baikal seals, sporting military-style berets, have been trained to march, shoot water guns and spin in circles while holding the fake rifles.
The seals, Winnie the Pooh and Laska, are part of a so-called seal circus. They can hold plastic knives in their mouths as they dive through obstacles and hoist a Russian flag, according to the Siberian Times.
The director of the aquatic park where the seals reside told Reuters that the show, which celebrates the surrender of Nazi Germany, symbolizes the park's respect for veterans.
"We have a military patriotic show here. We wanted to pay tribute to those who died and those who fought," he said.
Giving marine life military training is not new in Russia. Russia acquired Ukrainian combat dolphins when it annexed Crimea. The dolphins, trained to do military activities, such as underwater surveillance and retrieving lost objects, now serve the Russian Black Sea Fleet. The U.S. Navy also has a military dolphin program, although it's much smaller than it was during the Cold War.