Direct proof of use
Official Ukrainian sources directly document Igla use by National Guard air-defense personnel during the 2014 Russia-Ukraine War. In a 3 June 2023 presidential address, Volodymyr Zelenskyy singled out National Guard soldier Anatoliy Pavlenko of the Bureviy anti-aircraft missile battalion for shooting down Russian missiles with an Igla MANPADS.
A 5 December 2023 Presidential Office article also named Roman Hlomba, a National Guard anti-aircraft gunner, as having destroyed three Russian Su-25 attack aircraft with Igla MANPADS. A National Guard profile gives the most detailed account of Hlomba's early full-scale-invasion record, including dated Su-25 engagements on 29 April, 23 May, and 29 May 2022, and later a cruise-missile shootdown on 16 July 2022.
Sources: President June 2023 Address, President Heroes Housing Certificates, National Guard Heroes Profile
Timeline
The dated public record used here begins in spring 2022, after Russia's full-scale invasion expanded the war. The National Guard profile says Hlomba's first Su-25 engagement occurred on 29 April 2022 near the Zaporizhzhia front, followed by two more Su-25 shootdowns on 23 May and 29 May. Ukrainska Pravda, citing the National Guard press service, later reported that the same soldier had hit a cruise missile on 16 July and another Su-series aircraft the next morning.
By 2023 and 2024, Ukrainian official and media reporting continued to describe Igla MANPADS in mobile and point air-defense roles. The June 2023 presidential address credited an Igla operator with missile shootdowns, while Kyiv Post reported a 28 June 2024 National Guard claim that a team from the 31st Brigade used an Igla launcher against a Russian Su-25 in Donetsk region; Kyiv Post noted that it could not independently verify the footage date and location.
Sources: National Guard Heroes Profile, Ukrainska Pravda Sixth Su-25, President June 2023 Address, Kyiv Post 31st Brigade Su-25
Narrative
In Ukrainian service, Igla appears in the conflict as a man-portable short-range air-defense weapon used by small anti-aircraft teams and mobile fire groups. The sources connect it to defense against low-altitude Russian aircraft and missiles rather than to a transfer event; Igla was already a Soviet-origin family present in Ukrainian inventories and training before the full-scale invasion.
The most specific documented operator in the record is the National Guard of Ukraine. The National Guard profile places Roman Hlomba with the anti-aircraft missile and artillery battery of the 15th Operational Brigade named after Bohdan Zavada, defending the Zaporizhzhia area, and says the unit trained with Igla MANPADS simulators as part of its air-defense preparation.
The available sources support Ukrainian use and official Ukrainian claims of successful engagements, but they do not independently verify every aircraft or missile loss. For the June 2024 Donetsk-region Su-25 report, Kyiv Post explicitly treated the National Guard video as poor-quality footage and said the date and location could not be independently verified from the video alone.
Sources: National Guard Heroes Profile, President June 2023 Address, President Heroes Housing Certificates, Kyiv Post 31st Brigade Su-25
