Hvaldimir, a beluga whale suspected of being a Russian spy, was killed by gunfire in Norway, animal rights groups said.

Organizations Noah and One Whale said they filed a complaint with the Norwegian police demanding a criminal investigation after the beluga was found dead on Saturday off Norway's southwestern coast.

The whale's body was transported to the Norwegian Veterinary Institute on Monday for an autopsy which is expected "within three weeks," an institute spokesperson said.

“He had multiple bullet wounds around his body," Regina Crosby Haug, head of One Whale, told AFP after reviewing Hvaldimir's body.

“The injuries on the whale are alarming and of a nature that cannot rule out a criminal act – it is shocking,” Noah Director Siri Martinsen, said, adding, "Given the suspicion of a criminal act, it is crucial that the police are involved quickly."

Marine Mind, a third organization, said it found the whale's body floating in the water on Saturday.

“There was nothing to immediately reveal the cause of death,” Director Sebastian Strand told AFP. “We saw markings but it’s too early to say what they were.”

Strand added that some of the markings may be the result of marine birds, but there was no explanation for the others at this stage.

Who is Hvaldimir?

The white beluga, known as Hvaldimir—a combination of "hval," the Norwegian word for whale, and Russia President Vladimir Putin’s first name—initially appeared off Norway’s far-northern Finnmark coast in 2019.

Some began to say that the whale was trained as a spy after it was spotted wearing a harness comprised of a mount suit for an action camera, with "Equipment St. Petersburg" printed in English on its clasps.

Norwegian officials said that the whale was trained by the Russian navy since it was accustomed to humans, adding it may have escaped captivity.