Direct proof of use
A Ukrainian delegation presentation hosted by the OSCE identified a GP-34 underbarrel grenade launcher among weapons seized during a combat encounter with an enemy subversive and reconnaissance group near Volnovakha on May 5, 2015. The same page identified the weapon as a 40 mm GP-34 and stated that it was not in service with the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
In 2026, TASS quoted Kalashnikov Group's press office saying a large batch of 40 mm GP-34 launchers had been dispatched to a state customer and adding that the weapon was used in the special military operation zone, Russia's official term for the ongoing war against Ukraine.
Sources: Ukraine delegation Russian weapons presentation, Kalashnikov Group delivers large batch of GP-34 grenade launchers to state customer
Timeline
The clearest dated battlefield item is the Volnovakha seizure on May 5, 2015, during the Donbas phase of the war. The OSCE-hosted presentation tied the GP-34 to a Russian special-forces context and to fighting in eastern Ukraine, while separate RUSI and Marshall Center sources describe Russian reconnaissance, special-operations, and Spetsnaz activity in Ukraine during the same broader conflict.
The later TASS report does not identify a unit, sector, or incident, but it provides an explicit Russian-industry statement that GP-34 launchers were being used in the war zone as of June 2026.
Sources: Ukraine delegation Russian weapons presentation, Russian Forces in Ukraine, Spetsnaz: Operational Intelligence, Political Warfare, and Battlefield Role, Kalashnikov Group delivers large batch of GP-34 grenade launchers to state customer
Role in the conflict
The GP-34's documented role in this conflict is close infantry fire support and battlefield materiel carried by Russian-linked forces. It is a single-shot 40 mm underbarrel launcher for Kalashnikov-pattern rifles, and manufacturer material describes it as a weapon for engaging personnel and unarmored equipment at short range with VOG-family grenades.
The available sources support Russian-side fielding and use, but they do not provide a public count of launchers in theater, a verified first firing date, or a catalog of individual engagements beyond the Volnovakha seizure and the 2026 Kalashnikov use statement.
Sources: GP-34, Kalashnikov Group delivers large batch of GP-34 grenade launchers to state customer, Ukraine delegation Russian weapons presentation
