Direct proof of use
The An-32's documented role in the 2014 Russia-Ukraine War is a transfer and support-aviation case. SIPRI records two second-hand An-32 transport aircraft transferred from Croatia to Ukraine in 2024, while Oryx lists two delivered An-32B aircraft among heavy equipment supplied to Ukraine.
Open reporting tied the transfer to former Croatian Air Force An-32B aircraft. Defense Express reported in July 2024 that Ukraine had received two Croatian An-32B transports and that one was seen with State Emergency Service of Ukraine markings. Army Recognition likewise reported one former Croatian aircraft marked "36 Blue" after transfer to the Ukrainian State Emergency Service and described a two-aircraft Croatian pledge.
Sources: SIPRI Arms Transfers Database, Oryx Ukraine Military Aid List, Defense Express Croatia An-32B Transfer, Army Recognition Croatia An-32B Transfer
Timeline
The first visible delivery milestone came on 8 June 2024, when a former Croatian An-32B was photographed leaving Zagreb International Airport in Ukrainian markings. Army Recognition treated that image as confirmation of a Croatian-to-Ukrainian delivery, and Obris later identified the aircraft as former Croatian Air Force aircraft 727, redesignated 36, departing Zagreb for Chernivtsi.
Obris reported that the second Croatian An-32B, formerly marked 707, departed for Ukraine on 22 August 2024, completing Croatia's donation of both An-32B transports. Defense Express noted that Croatia had sought buyers for the stored aircraft after 2014 before they were ultimately transferred to Ukraine.
Sources: Army Recognition Croatia An-32B Transfer, Obris Croatian An-32B Donation, Defense Express Croatia An-32B Transfer
Battlefield role
The available sources support Ukrainian possession and wartime fielding of the An-32B as transport or emergency-service aviation, not a combat-aircraft role. The aircraft were connected in open reporting to the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, whose wartime mission includes emergency response and aviation support under Ukraine's Ministry of Internal Affairs, while the catalog role remains mobility and logistics rather than strike or air-defense use.
This separates the Ukraine record from the An-32's better-documented Iraqi bomber-conversion history. For the Russia-Ukraine war, the direct public evidence does not establish An-32 strike missions, a Ukrainian Air Force operational unit, or a specific combat sortie; it establishes Croatia's transfer of two An-32B transports to Ukraine and public sightings of at least one aircraft with Ukrainian emergency-service markings.
Sources: Defense Express Croatia An-32B Transfer, Army Recognition Croatia An-32B Transfer, Obris Croatian An-32B Donation, Oryx Ukraine Military Aid List
