Direct proof of use
The PKP Pecheneg was documented in the 2014 Russia-Ukraine War as a Russian-origin 7.62x54mmR general-purpose machine gun used in eastern Ukraine. Business Insider, summarizing Armament Research Services reporting in early 2015, listed the Russian PKP Pecheneg among light machine guns used by separatist forces and noted that the type was not in Ukrainian service at the time.
Later open-source military history of the Donetsk People's Republic also recorded examples of PKP Pecheneg guns in DPR-linked hands, including accounts tied to Sparta Battalion and Oplot Brigade social-media material and a weapon captured by Ukrainian forces near Marinka in 2015. Getty/Anadolu separately documented a Ukrainian soldier using a PKP Pecheneg during training near Chasiv Yar in Donetsk Oblast on August 19, 2023, during the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.
Sources: Business Insider Eastern Ukraine Weapons, War in Ukraine DPR Armed Formations, Getty Chasiv Yar Pecheneg
Narrative
In the Donbas phase, the Pecheneg appears as part of the broader small-arms mix of Russian-backed separatist forces rather than as a mass-standard weapon. The DPR-focused account describes PKM-family support weapons as widespread, then treats the Pecheneg as a smaller set of observed examples associated with named formations and a 2015 capture near Marinka.
The weapon's evidentiary significance changed over time. In 2015, reporting emphasized that the PKP Pecheneg was a Russian-produced weapon not known to be in Ukrainian service, making its appearance with separatists noteworthy. After Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, Ukrainian use is better treated as documented possession and field use of individual guns rather than proof of standard Ukrainian issue; the clearest sourced example here is the August 2023 Chasiv Yar training image.
Sources: Business Insider Eastern Ukraine Weapons, War in Ukraine DPR Armed Formations, Getty Chasiv Yar Pecheneg
