Investigation: Ukrainian dolphinarium “Nemo” has branches in Russia and occupied Crimea

Analysts of the Molfar OSINT agency, in cooperation with the animal rescue and environmental organization UAnimals, discovered that the Ukrainian network of dolphinariums "Nemo" probably has branches in Russia and occupied Crimea, and is supervised by ex-deputies from the Russian pro-government party "Edynaya Rossiya".

The first dolphinarium "Nemo" was opened in Odesa in 2005 with the support of the Sevastopol private enterprise "Biological Station". Next, the Ukrainian company "Nerum" leased a dolphinarium with animals, and later appropriated it together with the building and the land. Since then, "Nemo" belongs to "Nerum" — analysts claim that it is through this company that the connection of the Ukrainian network of dolphinariums with Russian branches can be traced.

The owners of "Nerum" — Raisa Kislovska, Mykhailo and Vyacheslav Kuchuk, spouses Serhii and Natali Kelyushkiv, Dmytro Uryvskyi — are probably the founders of the Russian company "Ecological Center". The company works in Anapa and pays taxes to the Russian budget. For example, in 2022 it is 500 thousand rubles (over $5.5 thousand).

According to Molfar analysts, "Nemo" has branch dolphinariums in the Russian cities of Anapa, Dzhubza, Vityazev, Stanytsia Golubitskaya and Nizhny Novgorod. They probably cooperate with the Ukrainian "Nemo" through the already mentioned "Ecological Center" and the company "Chudnoe More". Serhii Zirinov, a former member of the Legislative Assembly of the Krasnodar Territory from the United Russia party, is closely connected with this company — it is his confidant who is listed among the founders of the Chudnoe More company as of February 2024.

Nemo dolphinariums also operate in occupied Crimea, specifically in Alushta and Feodosia, probably through the limited liability company Nemo Dolphinarium. Its founders are the aforementioned Nerum company from Odesa and Tetyana Ryabchikova. Investigators believe that Nemo, Chudnoe More, and Ecological Center maintained ties even after Russiaʼs invasion of Ukraine in 2014.

In the period from 2016 to 2019, a link to the site of the Crimean dolphinarium, which is operational as of February 2024, was placed on the main site of nemo.ua by the name of the city, but all references to membership in the "Nemo" network have been removed from it.

In Minsk, Belarus, Nemo Dolphinarium also operates under the legal entity Nemo Dolphinarium. However, dolphinariums in Minsk, Alushta and Feodosia have the same logo and website design. In addition, "Nemo" in Odesa, Minsk and Almaty (Kazakhstan) offer identical gift certificates, on which the contacts of Odesa "Nemo" are placed.

Through these two legal entities — "Chudnoe More" and "Ecological Center" — a dolphinarium also operated in Vityazev, which is also in the Krasnodar Territory. Presumably, as of February 2024, it is not functioning, because the official site is not updated, and the year 2015 is indicated in the footer. The logo on the website remained identical to the Ukrainian logo of the Nemo network. The ticketing service does not work, but instead has links to the sites of the dolphinarium in Anapa and other Russian branches — that is, the dolphinarium is or at least was part of this network. But later, from 2016 to 2019, a link to the site of the Russian dolphinarium was placed on the main site of nemo.ua by the name of the city.

• In April 2023, the animal protection organization UAnimals appealed to the police because of a photo session of a TikTok blogger with a fur seal in a hotel room of Nemo Hotel Resort & SPA in Odesa. The dolphinarium and the management of the hotel complex were accused of abusing animals. However, the dolphinarium explained that "during the catʼs walk with its trainer on the territory of the hotel, they met bloggers with whom they had previously managed to become friends."