Direct proof of use
The 1V15 command and forward observer vehicle appears in the 2014 Russia-Ukraine War record through loss and capture documentation from both sides. Oryx's Russian equipment-loss list records two Russian 1V15M fire-control and observation vehicles as destroyed in the invasion of Ukraine, with photo or video evidence attached to each listed loss.
Oryx's Ukrainian equipment-loss list separately records four Ukrainian 1V15 battery command and forward observer vehicles as captured. WarSpotting also identifies a Russian 1V15(M) artillery command vehicle for the 1V12(M) Mashina-S/Faltset fire-control system as destroyed at Vestativka, Svatove raion, on 17 March 2023.
Sources: Oryx Russian Equipment Losses, Oryx Ukrainian Equipment Losses, WarSpotting 1V15M Vestativka
Timeline
The most precise dated record in the sources used here is WarSpotting entry #14908, which places a destroyed Russian 1V15(M) at Vestativka in Svatove raion on 17 March 2023. That record links the vehicle to the 1V12(M) Mashina-S/Faltset fire-control system and identifies Russia as the belligerent.
The Oryx lists are running loss trackers for the full-scale invasion phase that began on 24 February 2022. Their 1V15 entries support the broader conflict-use claim for Russian and Ukrainian vehicles, but they do not by themselves provide a full operating history or a complete count of all vehicles used.
Sources: WarSpotting 1V15M Vestativka, Oryx Russian Equipment Losses, Oryx Ukrainian Equipment Losses
Battlefield role
The 1V15 is not an artillery piece; it is the battalion commander's mobile command-observation post in the 1V12 Mashina-S artillery fire-control family. Armforc describes the vehicle as a platform for artillery reconnaissance, topographic positioning, target-coordinate work, fire setting preparation, fire correction, battalion fire control, communications, and movement with supported maneuver formations.
That role explains why the Ukraine-war evidence places the vehicle in artillery and missile support categories. The documented Russian losses show 1V15M vehicles being fielded as part of Russian artillery command-and-control equipment, while the Ukrainian entries show Ukrainian 1V15 vehicles captured during the same war. The public record used here supports deployment and battlefield loss or capture, but it does not identify specific fire missions directed by an individual 1V15.
Sources: Armforc 1V15 Mashina-S, Oryx Russian Equipment Losses, Oryx Ukrainian Equipment Losses, WarSpotting 1V15M Vestativka