Direct proof of use
The Leer-2 is documented in Russian service during the 2014 Russia-Ukraine War through reports and visual records of Russian systems destroyed in Ukraine. Gagadget reported on August 1, 2022 that Ukrainian forces had destroyed a Leer-2 electronic warfare station on a Tigr-M armored vehicle in Mykolaiv region, citing Ukraine Weapons Tracker imagery as the first documented loss of the system.
Later reporting placed another Russian Leer-2 in active front-line service in the Donetsk direction. Ukrinform reported that Ukraine's Special Operations Forces detected a Russian Leer-2 during reconnaissance, tracked its movement, struck it, and destroyed it on November 2, 2023. Army Recognition described the same incident as a 3rd Special Operations Forces Regiment operation and reported that the strike location was geolocated near Novoluhanske, west of Svitlodarsk in Donetsk region.
Sources: Gagadget Mykolaiv Leer-2 Loss, Ukrinform Leer-2 Donetsk Strike, Army Recognition Donetsk Leer-2 Strike
Timeline
The public record is clearest as a loss-and-fielding trail rather than a full order of battle. The earliest sourced appearance in this record is the August 2022 report of a destroyed Leer-2 in Mykolaiv region, followed by July and August 2023 records in southern Ukraine and the November 2023 Donetsk incident.
Focus reported on July 16, 2023 that Ukrainian artillery destroyed a Russian Leer-2 after aerial reconnaissance by Ukraine's 36th Separate Marine Brigade. WarSpotting separately lists a visually confirmed destroyed 85Ya6 Leer-2 at Zaliznyi Port in Skadovsk raion, uploaded on August 28, 2023 with a destruction date of August 27, 2023.
Sources: Focus July 2023 Leer-2 Strike, WarSpotting Zaliznyi Port Leer-2, Gagadget Mykolaiv Leer-2 Loss, Ukrinform Leer-2 Donetsk Strike
Narrative
In the Russia-Ukraine war record, the Leer-2 appears as a Russian mobile electronic-warfare and radio-reconnaissance vehicle operating close enough to the front for Ukrainian reconnaissance, artillery, drones, and special-operations units to find and strike it. The documented incidents do not establish the total number of Leer-2 systems in theater, but they do directly support Russian fielding of the system in multiple Ukrainian regions.
The system's documented role matches its technical description. The 3GIMBALS Russian EW systems report identifies the 85Ya6 Tigr-M MKTK REI PP Leer-2 as a mobile technical-control, electromagnetic-environment assessment, radio-reconnaissance, radio-interference, and mobile-communications jamming system mounted on a Tigr-M platform. Army Recognition's equipment profile similarly describes the Leer-2 as a Tigr-M-mounted system for radio reconnaissance, emulation, and communications jamming.
Sources: 3GIMBALS Russian EW Systems Report, Army Recognition Leer-2 85Ya6, Focus July 2023 Leer-2 Strike, Army Recognition Donetsk Leer-2 Strike
