Direct proof of use
The 48Ya6-K1 Podlet-K1 is documented in the 2014 Russia-Ukraine War through Ukrainian military-intelligence statements and follow-on reporting about Russian radar losses and strikes. On November 1, 2023, the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine reported that its personnel, working with Special Operations Forces and the 1st Separate Special Forces Brigade named after Ivan Bohun, discovered and destroyed a Russian 48Ya6-K1 Podlet radar near Krasnaya Polyana in Belgorod region.
Further official Ukrainian reporting tied the system to Russian air-defense targeting support. On April 27, 2024, HUR said its Husy-9 group and the 15th Separate Artillery Reconnaissance Brigade Black Forest detected and struck a Russian 48Ya6-K1 Podlet radar, hitting the antenna feed system and diesel power station. The same HUR report said Russian forces used the radar to detect and transmit target coordinates to S-300 and S-400 surface-to-air missile systems.
Sources: HUR Podlet Strike November 2023, HUR Podlet Strike April 2024
Timeline
The public record places the Podlet-K1 in Russian service during the full-scale phase of the war through repeated strike and loss reports rather than through Ukrainian operation of the radar. A November 2023 HUR report documented a Russian Podlet disabled in the Belgorod border region. In April 2024, HUR reported a separate strike on radar elements used to support Russian S-300 and S-400 systems. In November 2024, HUR said another Podlet radar complex was destroyed near Kotovske in western occupied Crimea.
Secondary reporting adds wider context to those official claims. The Kyiv Independent reported the April 2024 strike and noted that HUR did not provide detailed damage assessment beyond the antenna post and diesel generator. United24 Media reported HUR's November 2024 Crimea claim and separately covered a February 2025 Crimea incident in which Russian media reported damage to an air-defense radar station, with earlier reports suggesting the station was a 48Ya6-K1 Podlet-K1.
Sources: HUR Podlet Strike November 2023, HUR Podlet Strike April 2024, HUR Podlet Crimea Strike November 2024, Kyiv Independent Podlet Strike April 2024, United24 Podlet Crimea Strike, United24 Podlet Crimea Drone Strike February 2025
Operational role
In the war record, Podlet-K1 appears as a Russian air-defense sensor rather than a stand-alone weapon. The documented use claims describe a mobile radar intended to detect low- and extremely-low-altitude air targets and to feed coordinates into larger Russian air-defense systems. HUR's April 2024 and November 2024 reports both connect the radar to S-300 and S-400 targeting support.
The War Zone's December 2024 background on a Podlet-K1 captured in Syria also described the radar as a modern Russian system employed in Ukraine and operating with S-300 and S-400 air-defense networks. For the Russia-Ukraine War page, that article is useful as corroborating context for system role and previous Ukrainian targeting of Podlet-K1 radars, while the direct conflict-use claims rest primarily on the Ukraine-war HUR and press reports.
Sources: HUR Podlet Strike April 2024, HUR Podlet Crimea Strike November 2024, TWZ Podlet Captured In Syria
