Direct proof of use
The 3M9 surface-to-air missile appears in the 2014 Russia-Ukraine War record through documented Slovak military assistance to Ukraine rather than through a publicly confirmed individual firing incident. Oryx's inventory of Slovak arms deliveries listed 52 3M9ME surface-to-air missiles and 148 3M9M3E surface-to-air missiles for 2K12M2 Kub-M2 launchers, alongside two Kub-M2 launchers and a SURN 1S91 radar for the same system.
European Security & Defence reported the same March 2023 donation package: one 1S91 missile-guidance radar, two 2P25 launchers of the 2K12 Kub system, and 52 3M9ME plus 148 3M9M3E missiles. Forces News separately reported that Slovakia would supply two Kub air-defense systems to Ukraine and described the Kub as a tracked system with target-acquisition and guidance radar and a launcher carrying three missiles.
Sources: Oryx Slovak Arms Deliveries, European Security & Defence Slovak GBAD, Forces News Kub Ukraine
Timeline
The documented transfer sits in Ukraine's 2023 air-defense reinforcement period after Russia's full-scale invasion and repeated missile and drone attacks. On March 17, 2023, Slovakia approved a wider package for Ukraine that included MiG-29 aircraft and Kub air-defense equipment; Oryx later listed the 3M9ME and 3M9M3E missile quantities in the Slovak aid inventory.
By June 2023, European Security & Defence described the Kub transfer as already donated in March 2023 and connected it to Slovakia's wider need to replace aging ground-based air-defense assets. Public sources support the transfer and Ukrainian receipt pathway, but the available sources used here do not establish a dated combat launch of a specific 3M9 missile.
Sources: Oryx Slovak Arms Deliveries, European Security & Defence Slovak GBAD, Forces News Kub Ukraine
Narrative
In Ukrainian service, the 3M9ME and 3M9M3E rounds were part of a complete Kub firing chain rather than independent munitions. The National Defence University of Ukraine describes the 2K12 Kub as a Soviet self-propelled air-defense missile system intended to protect army units from aircraft at medium and low altitudes, with the 2P25 launcher carrying three missiles.
The supported conflict role is air defense and foreign-supplied sustainment for legacy Soviet-type Ukrainian air-defense capacity. The sources identify Ukraine as the recipient, Slovakia as the donor, the relevant missile variants as 3M9ME and 3M9M3E, and the associated equipment as Kub-M2 launchers and 1S91 radar. They do not by themselves prove which Ukrainian unit operated the missiles, where they were deployed, or whether any specific 3M9 round was fired at a Russian target.
Sources: National Defence University Kub-M3, Oryx Slovak Arms Deliveries, European Security & Defence Slovak GBAD
