Direct proof of use
ARES documented 152 mm OF45 HE-fragmentation projectiles in its November 2014 survey of arms and munitions in the Ukraine conflict, placing the projectile in the eastern Ukraine battlefield record during the opening year of the war. The ARES report page describes the study as an examination of weapons systems and munitions documented in the conflict and notes that the report drew on mainstream media, social-media material, and material collected by journalists, NGO workers, and local sources on the ground.
Later explosive-ordnance guidance reinforced the Ukraine-specific identification context. GICHD's Ukraine guide identifies OF45 as a common 152 mm HE-fragmentation artillery projectile, states that it is used with D-20 howitzers, and says it can be found as abandoned explosive ordnance around abandoned or destroyed D-20 positions and expected around destroyed or abandoned 2S3 Akatsiya self-propelled artillery.
A dated full-scale-invasion report gives a specific firing context. Hindustan Times reported on May 25, 2022 that Russian Defence Ministry footage showed Russian Western Military District artillery using 2A65 Msta-B howitzers in Ukraine and described the Msta-B firing OF45 HE shells at Ukrainian fortifications.
Sources: ARES Raising Red Flags, GICHD Explosive Ordnance Guide for Ukraine, Hindustan Times Msta-B OF45 Video
Timeline
The public record begins with broad munition documentation in 2014 rather than a single named firing incident. ARES published Raising Red Flags on November 18, 2014 after surveying more than 60 munition types documented in the conflict, including OF45.
GICHD's February 2022 Ukraine guide then provided humanitarian explosive-ordnance recognition context for OF45 in Ukraine, including its association with D-20 and 2S3 artillery positions. On May 25, 2022, Hindustan Times reported a Russian Defence Ministry video context in which Russian Msta-B howitzers fired OF45 HE shells in Ukraine.
Sources: ARES Raising Red Flags, GICHD Second Edition Publication Page, GICHD Explosive Ordnance Guide for Ukraine, Hindustan Times Msta-B OF45 Video
Battlefield role
In this conflict, OF45 is best treated as tube-artillery ammunition rather than as a standalone battlefield system. The projectile is a 152 mm HE-fragmentation round for Soviet/Russian separate-loading artillery, and the direct Ukraine sources tie it to the D-20, 2S3 Akatsiya, and 2A65 Msta-B artillery ecosystem.
The clearest operator-specific public claim in the dedicated source set is Russian use in the May 2022 Msta-B report. ARES's 2014 conflict survey documented OF45 among munitions in eastern Ukraine but does not, in the public page excerpt used here, provide a unit-level operator for each projectile sighting. GICHD's guide is an ordnance-recognition source for Ukraine and supports field presence and compatible artillery context rather than a named firing incident.
The projectile's role was conventional 152 mm high-explosive fire support. GICHD describes OF45 as longer than other 152 mm HE rounds, steel-bodied, spin-stabilized, commonly associated with an RGM-2 impact fuze, and recognizable in fired examples by scoring on the copper driving band. Those details support identification in the Ukraine explosive-ordnance environment without changing the conflict-use claim from artillery ammunition to an independent weapon system.
Sources: GICHD Explosive Ordnance Guide for Ukraine, Hindustan Times Msta-B OF45 Video, ARES Raising Red Flags
