Direct proof of use
The Kasta conflict record begins before the 2022 full-scale invasion. OSCE-linked reporting documented a 51U6 Kasta-2E1 target-acquisition radar at a training area near Buhaivka, about 37 km south-west of Luhansk, after an OSCE Special Monitoring Mission mini-UAV observed it on February 15, 2021. InformNapalm published additional imagery and geolocation work from the same sighting, placing the radar in non-government-controlled territory in the Donbas.
The full-scale phase adds visual-loss and strike evidence. Oryx lists destroyed Russian 51U6 and 35N6 Kasta command-post and antenna vehicles among visually confirmed Russian losses, including antenna vehicles for the 35N6 Kasta surveillance radar. WarSpotting separately records destroyed Russian KamAZ 6x6 antenna vehicles for the 35N6 Kasta near Manuilivka and Yelyseivka in Berdiansk raion in 2026. Ukrainian and defense-media reporting also describes strikes on Russian Kasta radars in Zaporizhzhia region, including a March 2026 Unmanned Systems Forces and Special Operations Forces strike and an April 2026 Khortytsia Brigade strike on a Russian 35N6 Kasta station.
Sources: InformNapalm Kasta-2E1 Donbas, Janes OSCE Kasta Identification, Oryx Russian Equipment Losses, WarSpotting Kasta KamAZ Manuilivka, WarSpotting Kasta KamAZ Yelyseivka, Ukrinform Kasta Zaporizhzhia Strike, Defense Express 35N6 Kasta Zaporizhzhia
Timeline
The earliest dated public incident in this record is the February 2021 Buhaivka sighting. Janes reported that the OSCE identified the 51U6 Kasta-2E1 on February 17, 2021, and InformNapalm tied the sighting to February 15 mini-UAV imagery, the Buhaivka training area, and the occupied Donbas context.
Later records come from the attritional air-defense fight in southern Ukraine. In February and May 2026, WarSpotting recorded destroyed Russian 35N6 Kasta antenna vehicles in Berdiansk raion. Between those two entries, Ukrinform reported a March 1, 2026 strike that destroyed a Russian Kasta radar in Zaporizhzhia region, and Defense Express reported an April 17, 2026 Khortytsia Brigade strike on a Russian 35N6 Kasta radar station in occupied Zaporizhzhia.
Sources: InformNapalm Kasta-2E1 Donbas, Janes OSCE Kasta Identification, WarSpotting Kasta KamAZ Manuilivka, Ukrinform Kasta Zaporizhzhia Strike, Defense Express 35N6 Kasta Zaporizhzhia, WarSpotting Kasta KamAZ Yelyseivka
Operational role
The Kasta is documented in this conflict as a radar node, not as a munition-firing weapon. The cited sources describe 51U6/35N6 Kasta-family equipment as target-acquisition or surveillance radar used for low-altitude airspace monitoring. Janes describes the Kasta-2E1 as a two-dimensional target-acquisition radar for small low-altitude targets, while Defense Express describes the 35N6 Kasta as part of Russia's layered air-defense architecture and a system used to monitor airspace and track aerial targets.
The source pattern places Russian Kasta equipment in two related contexts: forward or rear-area air-defense surveillance in occupied Ukrainian territory, and Ukrainian attempts to degrade that surveillance by striking radar vehicles and stations. The evidence supports Russian operation and loss of Kasta-family radar components in the war; it does not support an exact count of all Kasta systems deployed.
Sources: Janes OSCE Kasta Identification, Defense Express 35N6 Kasta Zaporizhzhia, Ukrinform Kasta Zaporizhzhia Strike, Oryx Russian Equipment Losses, WarSpotting Kasta KamAZ Manuilivka, WarSpotting Kasta KamAZ Yelyseivka
