Direct proof of use
Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council reported on 25 July 2016 that Russian occupation troops in eastern Ukraine had used KM-8 Gran mortar systems with controlled 120 mm mortar bombs and portable Malachite automated fire-control equipment against Ukrainian military personnel in Donbas earlier that month. The NSDC statement attributed the system's operation to regular Russian Armed Forces personnel and described the use as occurring amid increased heavy-weapons shelling in the Donbas phase of the war.
A second direct-use report appeared during the full-scale invasion. On 8 July 2022, TASS cited a security source saying Russian armed forces were using Gran precision-guided mortar projectiles, along with Krasnopol and Kitolov guided projectiles, during operations in Ukraine. The same report described the projectiles as homing on laser-designated targets.
Sources: NSDC Ukraine KM-8 Gran in Donbas, TASS Gran and Kitolov in Ukraine
Timeline
The available public record has two dated milestones for this entry. The first is the July 2016 NSDC statement placing Russian KM-8 Gran systems in Donbas during the pre-2022 phase of the war. The second is the July 2022 TASS report placing Gran precision-guided mortar projectiles in Russian use during the full-scale invasion.
Both milestones describe use by the Russian side, but they do not provide a detailed target list, unit-level order of battle, or a publicly verifiable incident log for individual Gran strikes. The record therefore supports conflict use and role, but not a precise count of rounds fired or specific battlefield effects.
Sources: NSDC Ukraine KM-8 Gran in Donbas, TASS Gran and Kitolov in Ukraine
Role in the conflict
In the 2014 Russia-Ukraine War, the KM-8 Gran appears as a Russian precision mortar fire-support munition rather than a standalone weapon platform. The NSDC described a system built around controlled 120 mm mortar bombs and Malachite fire-control equipment, while TASS described Gran as part of a Russian set of guided projectiles that used laser target designation.
Background sources are consistent with that role. Rosoboronexport's land-forces catalog lists Gran as a 120 mm terminally guided round, and U.S. Army Infantry coverage of upgraded Russian mortars describes the KM-8 Gran guided-projectile system in the 120 mm mortar context with Malakhit fire-control equipment. Those sources support system characteristics, while the NSDC and TASS reports provide the conflict-specific use claims.
Sources: NSDC Ukraine KM-8 Gran in Donbas, TASS Gran and Kitolov in Ukraine, Rosoboronexport Land Forces Weapons Export Catalogue, Infantry Spring 2022 Russian Upgraded Mortars
