Direct proof of use
Direct evidence for 500 kg-class bomb use in Ukraine appears in early full-scale invasion strike investigations and later technical reporting on Russian glide-bomb employment. Amnesty International investigated the 3 March 2022 Chernihiv strike and concluded that at least eight unguided aerial bombs were likely used; verified aftermath footage showed a crater consistent with roughly 500 kg surface-impact munitions, and separate verified Ukraine footage showed an unguided dud FAB-500 M62 being removed by civil-defense personnel.
Conflict Armament Research later documented remnants of two Russian universal planning and correction modules that can be attached to FAB-250 or FAB-500 general-purpose bombs, linking FAB-500-class bomb bodies to the glide-bomb phase of the war. JAPCC and RUSI describe Russia's UMPK-equipped FAB-series bombs, including FAB-500, as a regular Russian stand-off strike weapon in Ukraine.
Sources: Amnesty Chernihiv FAB-500 Bomb Strike, CAR Russian Guidance Modules, JAPCC Glide Bomb Warfare Ukraine, RUSI Tactical Developments Third Year
Timeline
The sourced record begins with conventional unguided aerial-bomb evidence from March 2022 and then shifts to documented UMPK glide-bomb use from 2023 onward. The later sources describe a broader Russian airpower adaptation: FAB-500 and heavier Soviet-era bomb bodies were fitted with wing and guidance kits so aircraft could release them from outside many Ukrainian short-range air-defense envelopes.
By 2024 and 2025, RUSI assessed that glide bombs had become a systematic part of Russian preparatory fires, mainly against fighting positions, strongpoints, and other targets where a large payload was useful. JAPCC similarly describes mass Russian UMPK employment across the front by early 2025, with Su-34 aircraft identified as the primary launch platform.
Sources: CAR Russian Guidance Modules, RUSI Tactical Developments Third Year, RUSI Sukhoi Production, JAPCC Glide Bomb Warfare Ukraine
Narrative
The 500 kg bomb entry is a weight-class page, so the Ukraine evidence is centered on the Soviet/Russian FAB-500 family rather than a single factory model. In 2022, open-source investigations tied the class to unguided air attacks: Amnesty's Chernihiv investigation identified evidence consistent with multiple roughly 500 kg unguided bombs and noted verified footage of a dud FAB-500 M62 elsewhere in Ukraine. Human Rights Watch, investigating the 9 March 2022 Izium apartment-building strike, could not identify the munition from remnants but found the damage consistent with a large air-delivered munition such as a FAB-500-series bomb with a delayed-action fuze.
From 2023, the conflict-use record increasingly concerns FAB-500 bomb bodies converted into glide bombs by UMPK kits. Conflict Armament Research physically documented UMPK remnants and stated that the modules can be attached to FAB-250 or FAB-500 general-purpose bombs. RUSI's 2025 tactical assessment describes UMPK glide bombs as predominantly FAB-500 and FAB-1500 aerial bombs, released across the front by Russian Aerospace Forces aircraft from stand-off distances. A later RUSI report says Russia identified UMPK kits fitted to FAB-500, FAB-1000, and FAB-1500 bombs as a low-cost, high-damage capability during the full-scale invasion.
The documented role changed with the kit. Baseline FAB-500-class weapons were unguided aerial bombs dropped in attacks such as the Chernihiv strike; UMPK-equipped FAB-500s became stand-off glide munitions used for fire support, interdiction, and attacks on fixed or hardened positions. JAPCC reports that Russian forces primarily use Su-34 Fullbacks as launch platforms and that UMPK-equipped bombs were used against static targets, Ukrainian positions, urban centers, resupply routes, command posts, and infrastructure.
Sources: Amnesty Chernihiv FAB-500 Bomb Strike, HRW Izium Apartment Attack, CAR Russian Guidance Modules, RUSI Tactical Developments Third Year, RUSI Sukhoi Production, JAPCC Glide Bomb Warfare Ukraine
