Early in World War II, the Soviets developed a controversial and brutal weapon: suicide dogs trained to destroy enemy tanks.
These dogs were fitted with explosive-laden backpacks and taught to run toward German tanks. The explosives were triggered by a lever that would activate when the dog crawled beneath the tank, detonating the charge.
Though up to 40,000 anti-tank dogs were trained for this mission, only a few succeeded. Most were shot by German soldiers who quickly learned to target any dogs on the battlefield, effectively neutralizing the threat.
