Direct proof of use
Direct conflict-use evidence for the 36D6/ST-68U family in the 2014 Russia-Ukraine War comes from visually documented loss lists and later strike reporting. Oryx lists two damaged Russian 36D6 ST-68U surveillance radars and thirteen Ukrainian 36D6 ST-68U surveillance radars, twelve destroyed and one damaged, in its equipment-loss records for the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Ukrainian General Staff-derived reporting adds a named Russian operating context. Ukrainska Pravda and Ukrainian News reported that Ukrainian forces struck an ST-68 air-target detection radar in Feodosiia, occupied Crimea, on the night of May 27-28, 2026, describing it as part of Russia's air-defense system for detecting, tracking, and transmitting air-target coordinates.
Sources: Oryx Russian Equipment Losses, Oryx Ukrainian Equipment Losses, Ukrainska Pravda ST-68 Feodosiia Report, Ukrainian News ST-68 Feodosiia Report
Operational role
The radar's documented role in the conflict is air surveillance and air-defense support rather than direct attack. Open technical references describe the 36D6/ST-68U Tin Shield family as a mobile three-coordinate radar used to detect, identify, and track air targets and to pass target data to air-defense users, including S-300-family units.
That role matches the conflict-specific evidence. Russian and Ukrainian loss entries show the system as battlefield air-defense equipment, while the Feodosiia strike reports describe the Russian ST-68 as a radar used inside the air-defense network to detect, track, and transmit air-target coordinates.
Sources: GlobalSecurity 36D6 Tin Shield Profile, Air Power Australia Tin Shield, Defense Express 36D6M Air Coverage, Oryx Russian Equipment Losses, Oryx Ukrainian Equipment Losses, Ukrainska Pravda ST-68 Feodosiia Report
