Separatist forces in Ukraine have been using laser-guided artillery shells provided by the Russian military since spring 2018, but their effect has been questionable, open-source evidence suggests.

The use of the 2K25 Krasnopol artillery shell constitutes the most recent form of lethal aid provided by Russia to separatist forces in eastern Ukraine, though Russia has used it in other conflicts that predate the ongoing one in Ukraine.

Rumors and unverified claims of the Russian 152mm Krasnopol artillery shell’s use against Ukrainian forces have circulated since the outset of the war in the Donbas region, and it was not until 2018 that media reports began to corroborate some of those claims.

Being laser-guided, the Krasnopol would hypothetically be significantly more accurate than the more commonly used “dumb” shells, which rely solely on calculations of their ballistic trajectory. The reason for its seemingly late entrance into the conflict which began in 2014 is not clear, nor are the motivations for its recent use, but the evidence is overwhelming.

Recipients of the Shells

In May 2018, media reports citing Ukrainian military intelligence claimed that the armed forces of the Russian Federation delivered a shipment of Krasnopol artillery shells, along with the corresponding laser designator-rangefinders that guide the Krasnopol rounds, to an independent artillery brigade in Russian-backed separatist-controlled Donetsk. Seeing as there is just one such brigade in the armed forces of the so-called “Donetsk People’s Republic” (DNR), this narrows down the units to which these deliveries could have been made.

The brigade, known as the Guards’ Artillery Brigade ‘Kalmius’ (military unit 08802), is well-equipped to field the Krasnopol, as the unit fields several sorts of 152mm artillery equipment capable of firing this round. In addition to a handful of MSTA-S and 2s1 type self-propelled artillery pieces captured from the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Kalmius is better known for fielding several Russian-supplied MSTA-B towed artillery pieces. The MSTA-B is allegedly also used with the Krasnopol by Russian forces in Syria to conduct high-precision artillery strikes.

First Evidence of Use in Ukraine

Shortly after the May 2018 media reports, the first physical evidence of the Krasnopol’s use in Ukraine emerged. On June 23, imagery emerged of fragments from the rear wing section from a Krasnopol round that had allegedly struck a Ukrainian position that was vacated at the time of the strike.

Initial Facebook post showing Krasnopol fragments in Ukraine. (Source: Анатолий Штефан Штирлиц/archive)

While it was impossible to link the fragments directly to any one location, the fact that the Ukrainian armed forces were able to produce original photographs of them suggested that the round likely had impacted in Ukrainian government-held territory after being fired from Russian-backed separatist territory.