Direct proof of use
Conflict Armament Research documented two 7.62 x 54 mm R PKM medium machine guns in Severodonetsk on 19 December 2018 during its investigation of weapons recovered from armed formations operating in parts of Ukraine's Donetsk and Luhansk regions. CAR reported that Kovrov Mechanical Plant manufactured the two guns in 1975 and 1977, and that Ukrainian authorities said the items had never been in Ukrainian Armed Forces service, were not recorded as stolen, lost, or written off, and had not been transferred to other Ukrainian military units.
CAR also documented a 7.62 x 54 mm R PKT medium machine gun installed on a BTR-80 armored personnel carrier in Sartana on 9 May 2019. That record ties the same Kalashnikov machine-gun family to a vehicle-mounted role in the Donbas conflict environment.
Public Ukrainian-side reporting shows the PKM remaining in use after Russia's 2022 full-scale invasion. UNITED24 Media reported in July 2025 that the Murena ammunition-feed system was compatible with belt-fed weapons used by Ukraine's Defense Forces, including the PKM, and the International Legion for the Defence of Ukraine identified a Polish volunteer serving in Ukraine whose weapon was a PKM machine gun.
Sources: Weapons of the War in Ukraine, Ukraine Debuts Murena Feed System to Power Heavy Machine Guns and Combat Robots, International Legion Thirteenth Profile
Timeline
The first dated machine-gun entries in these sources come from CAR's pre-2022 fieldwork. The two PKM guns were documented in Severodonetsk on 19 December 2018, followed by the PKT on a BTR-80 in Sartana on 9 May 2019.
The full-scale-war evidence is later and user-specific. The International Legion profile states that Konrad, call sign Thirteenth, first came to Ukraine in 2022 and became a fighter in the 2nd International Legion in 2023; it describes his present weapon as a PKM machine gun and places his combat experience in the Serebrianskyi Forest and near Pokrovsk. UNITED24 Media's July 2025 Murena report gives a broader Ukrainian Defense Forces context for PKM-compatible belt-fed weapons.
Sources: Weapons of the War in Ukraine, Ukraine Debuts Murena Feed System to Power Heavy Machine Guns and Combat Robots, International Legion Thirteenth Profile
Narrative
In the Donbas phase, the PKM/PKT evidence is recovered-materiel documentation rather than a described firing incident. The two PKM guns and the vehicle-mounted PKT appear in CAR's sample of weapons and ammunition recovered from armed formations in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, which makes them evidence of fielded materiel within the conflict but not a quantified inventory.
In the full-scale phase, the public Ukrainian-side sources describe current use more directly. The Murena article treats the PKM as one of the belt-fed weapons used by Ukraine's Defense Forces, while the International Legion profile gives an individual example of a Ukrainian foreign volunteer serving as a PKM machine gunner. Together, the sources support the PKM/PK family's role as infantry and vehicle-mounted fire support across different phases of the war.
Sources: Weapons of the War in Ukraine, Ukraine Debuts Murena Feed System to Power Heavy Machine Guns and Combat Robots, International Legion Thirteenth Profile
