2014 Russia-Ukraine War

FPB 98 in the 2014 Russia-Ukraine War

Ukraine fielded French-built FPB 98 MKI patrol boats for its State Border Guard Service during the 2014 Russia-Ukraine War, with 2023 reporting documenting multiple batches routed through the Bosphorus to Constanta for Black Sea and maritime-border security use.

Weapon profileFPB 98
SideUkraineRoleForce ProtectionReconnaissance & SurveillanceTraining & Foreign Aid
FPB 98, 32 m fast patrol boat, Naval Systems - 2014 Russia-Ukraine War
Image source: Ukrainian FPB98 front.jpg

Evidence Map

ClaimSources
Ukraine's State Border Guard Service received French-built FPB 98 MKI patrol boats during the 2014 Russia-Ukraine War.

Sources: Janes FPB 98 First Dispatch, Naval News FPB 98 Transit, Janes FPB 98 Second Dispatch, Ukrainian Shipping FPB 98 Delivery

The boats were intended for Ukrainian maritime-security and sovereignty missions in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov.

Sources: Naval News FPB 98 Launch, Naval News FPB 98 Transit

The documented wartime evidence supports delivery and fielding, but not a specific combat firing incident.

Sources: Janes FPB 98 First Dispatch, Janes FPB 98 Second Dispatch

Timeline

FPB 98 In 2014 Russia-Ukraine War

  1. First Ukrainian FPB 98 MKI launched

    OCEA launched BG201, the first of twenty FPB 98 MKI patrol boats ordered for Ukraine's State Border Guard Service.

    Sources: Naval News FPB 98 Launch

  2. First wartime delivery batch reached Constanta

    Janes reported that the cargo ship Gaja carried two FPB 98 MKI boats through the Bosphorus from Saint-Nazaire and arrived at Constanta the same day.

    Sources: Janes FPB 98 First Dispatch, Naval News FPB 98 Transit

  3. Second two-boat batch transited the Bosphorus

    Janes reported a second batch of two FPB 98 MKI patrol boats destined for Ukraine's State Border Guard Service transiting northbound through the Bosphorus.

    Sources: Janes FPB 98 Second Dispatch

  4. Four more boats reported at Constanta

    Ukrainian Shipping Magazine reported that four additional FPB 98 project boats for Ukraine's Maritime Guard docked at Constanta after a Bosphorus transit.

    Sources: Ukrainian Shipping FPB 98 Delivery

Documented Use

Direct Proof Of Use

The FPB 98 MKI appears in the 2014 Russia-Ukraine War record as a French-built maritime patrol boat supplied to Ukraine's State Border Guard Service during the full-scale phase of the war. Janes reported that OCEA dispatched the first two of twenty ordered FPB 98 MKI boats in May 2023, with video imagery showing the cargo ship Gaja carrying the boats northbound through the Bosphorus from Saint-Nazaire to Constanta.

Naval News separately reported the same May 2023 transit and identified the boats as Ukrainian Border Guard FPB 98 MKIs. The outlet assessed that Constanta was used because of wartime conditions in the Black Sea region, while earlier Naval News coverage of the program described the boats as intended for Ukrainian operations in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov.

Sources: Janes FPB 98 First Dispatch, Naval News FPB 98 Transit, Naval News FPB 98 Launch

Timeline

France and Ukraine's maritime-security program predated the 2022 full-scale invasion, but the boats reached the theater during wartime. Naval News reported the December 2021 launch of BG201, the first Ukrainian FPB 98 MKI, under a twenty-boat program intended to reinforce sovereignty in the Sea of Azov and Black Sea.

In May 2023, Janes and Naval News documented the first two French-built boats moving by merchant vessel to Constanta. Janes then reported a second two-boat batch transiting the Bosphorus on 13 August 2023, and Ukraine's ambassador to France told LB.ua later that month that two State Border Service vessels had been delivered in August. Ukrainian Shipping Magazine reported in December 2023 that four more FPB 98 project boats had been received through the same Bosphorus-Constanta route.

Sources: Naval News FPB 98 Launch, Janes FPB 98 First Dispatch, Naval News FPB 98 Transit, Janes FPB 98 Second Dispatch, LB.ua Omelchenko Interview, Ukrainian Shipping FPB 98 Delivery

Operational Role

The sourced wartime role is maritime security rather than documented combat firing. OCEA describes the FPB 98 as a fast patrol boat for territorial and deep-sea surveillance, vessel control, search and rescue, natural-resource protection, and sovereignty missions. Naval News' Ukraine-specific coverage adds that each Ukrainian FPB 98 MKI would carry an optoelectronic surveillance system and a RHIB for border-guard reconnaissance groups.

The boats therefore fit the Ukrainian side's force-protection, reconnaissance, surveillance, and foreign-aid equipment record in the war. The available direct sources document delivery and fielding for the State Border Guard Service; they do not establish a specific combat engagement, weapons firing, or loss event involving a Ukrainian FPB 98 MKI.

Sources: OCEA Fast Patrol Boat Range, Naval News FPB 98 Launch, Janes FPB 98 First Dispatch, Janes FPB 98 Second Dispatch

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Sources