Direct proof of use
K-51 gas grenades are directly documented in the 2014 Russia-Ukraine War through Ukrainian national statements posted by the OPCW, Russian unit reporting described by outside monitors, and visual evidence from the front. Ukraine's CSP-29 national statement said the National Guard of Ukraine recorded 1,329 cases of chemical-weapon use against its units from January 1, 2023, to October 29, 2024, and listed Soviet-made K-51 gas hand grenades among the primary UAV-delivered weapons used with riot-control agents.
Ukraine's later EC-109 statement said K-51 and RG-VO gas grenades were well-known delivery systems in Russian hazardous-chemical munition use, while its EC-108 statement described seized delivery devices identified as K-51 or RG-V grenades loaded with irritant chemicals. Separate reporting on Russia's 810th Naval Infantry Brigade described the brigade saying it had dropped K-51 grenades from drones onto Ukrainian positions near Krynky in Kherson Oblast in December 2023.
Sources: Ukraine CSP-29 OPCW Statement, Ukraine EC-109 OPCW Statement, Ukraine EC-108 OPCW Statement, Business Insider 810th Brigade K-51 Report
Timeline
Public documentation places K-51 appearances in several phases of the full-scale war. A State Border Guard Service image hosted on Wikimedia Commons identifies a K-51 aerosol grenade dropped by Russian forces from a drone in Donetsk Oblast on November 14, 2022. Ukrainian statements then describe K-51 incidents in 2023 near Marinka, Spirne, and other Donetsk-sector positions, and broader National Guard records list repeated K-51 UAV delivery in Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Luhansk regional contexts.
On December 22, 2023, Russia's 810th Naval Infantry Brigade reportedly described a tactic of dropping K-51 grenades from drones to force Ukrainian troops out of fortified positions near Krynky. Ukrainian OPCW statements in 2024 and 2025 continued to identify K-51 among the delivery systems under investigation or documentation in the war.
Sources: K-51 Drone-Dropped Grenade Image, Ukraine EC-105 OPCW Statement, Ukraine EC-108 OPCW Statement, Business Insider 810th Brigade K-51 Report, ISW December 24 2023 Assessment, Ukraine CSP-29 OPCW Statement, Ukraine EC-109 OPCW Statement
Narrative
The documented battlefield role was not conventional fragmentation or explosive attack. The public sources describe the K-51 as a gas or aerosol grenade used with irritant chemicals, normally delivered by small UAVs against trenches, dugouts, shelters, or other front-line positions. Ukrainian statements say the intended military effect was to constrain Ukrainian units, force personnel to leave cover, and expose them to conventional weapons; Business Insider reported the same tactical framing from the 810th Naval Infantry Brigade's own description.
The source record separates specific K-51 evidence from broader chemical-agent allegations. OPCW Technical Assistance Visit news releases confirmed CS in several Ukraine-related sample sets, but those public releases primarily describe toxic-chemical findings and sample context rather than attributing each incident to K-51. The K-51-specific record comes from Ukraine's OPCW-posted statements, the Commons-hosted State Border Guard image, and reporting on the 810th Naval Infantry Brigade's Krynky account.
Ukraine's OPCW statements attribute the K-51 use to Russian armed formations and say Ukrainian forces did not have K-51, RG-VO, or other riot-control-agent munitions in service for repelling Russia's aggression. Those statements are cited here as Ukrainian government claims posted through the OPCW; the record does not make an independent legal finding.
Sources: Ukraine CSP-29 OPCW Statement, Business Insider 810th Brigade K-51 Report, OPCW First TAV Ukraine Report Release, OPCW Second TAV Ukraine Report Release, OPCW Third TAV Ukraine Report Release, Ukraine EC-109 OPCW Statement
