Direct proof of use
The Fara-family radar is tied to the 2014 Russia-Ukraine War by incident-level evidence from the full-scale invasion phase. Militarnyi reported on March 16, 2022 that Ukrainian Special Operations Forces seized a Russian portable radar station called Fara, describing it as a radar for surveillance, target reconnaissance, identification, and guidance. LB.ua, citing the official Facebook page of Ukraine's Special Operations Forces Command, separately reported on March 17, 2022 that Ukrainian SOF had taken a Russian Fara portable radar as a trophy.
A later field-loss report identifies a Fara-PV variant in Russian service. Ukrinform reported on January 21, 2024 that Ukrainian Special Operations Forces destroyed a Fara-PV portable radar station of Russian troops on the southern axis after the target was spotted by a UAV crew from the SOF's 73rd Maritime Center.
Sources: Militarnyi Captured Fara Report, LB.ua SOF Trophy Fara Report, Ukrinform Fara-PV Destruction Report
Timeline
The earliest dated public incident used here is the March 2022 capture report, which places a Russian Fara radar in the war shortly after Russia's full-scale invasion began. The reporting describes capture by Ukrainian SOF and identifies the radar's battlefield function as reconnaissance, target detection, and guidance rather than direct attack.
The January 2024 southern-axis incident adds a later documented Fara-family loss. That report names the destroyed target as a Russian Fara-PV portable radar station and attributes detection and strike activity to Ukrainian SOF personnel using a drone.
Sources: Militarnyi Captured Fara Report, LB.ua SOF Trophy Fara Report, Ukrinform Fara-PV Destruction Report
Battlefield role
The documented role is ground surveillance and targeting support. GunRF describes the 1L111 Fara-1 as a portable multiple-target surveillance and weapon-guidance radar used by the Russian Armed Forces, intended to observe moving land targets and guide weapons such as AGS-17-type automatic grenade launchers, Pecheneg machine guns, and Kord heavy machine guns.
Rosoboronexport describes Fara-PV as a portable short-range surveillance radar with a panoramic display for detecting moving ground targets, including people, automobiles, and armored vehicles, during border surveillance and ground reconnaissance. Those published functions align with the Ukraine incident reports, which describe captured or destroyed Russian Fara systems as surveillance, reconnaissance, target-identification, and guidance equipment.
Sources: GunRF Fara-1 Profile, Rosoboronexport Fara-PV, Militarnyi Captured Fara Report, Ukrinform Fara-PV Destruction Report
Operators and evidence pattern
The source-backed side for this record is Russia. Both the 2022 capture reporting and the 2024 destruction reporting identify the radar systems as Russian equipment or Russian troop equipment encountered by Ukrainian forces.
The public evidence is strongest for capture and destruction of Russian systems rather than for a full account of unit holdings, quantities, or continuous operation. The record therefore treats the Fara-1/Fara-PV family as documented Russian battlefield materiel used for surveillance and targeting support in the war, with the specific public incidents limited to March 2022 and January 2024.
Sources: Militarnyi Captured Fara Report, LB.ua SOF Trophy Fara Report, Ukrinform Fara-PV Destruction Report
