Direct proof of use
The Project 1204 Shmel record in the 2014 Russia-Ukraine War is strongest as documented deployment and fielding in Russia's Kerch Strait and Sea of Azov posture, not as a confirmed Shmel firing incident. bmpd reported that AK-201 and AK-248, two Project 1204 Shmel armored boats from Russia's Caspian Flotilla, arrived in Kerch on 23 May 2018 with an AK-326 Project 1400M boat for protection of shipping in the Sea of Azov and Kerch Strait.
InformNapalm's later threat assessment described the same May 2018 movement as two Shmel 1204 boats, AK-201 and AK-248, reaching Kerch through the Volga-Don Canal during the Azov crisis. Covert Shores also listed Project 1204 Shmel river gunboats in the Russian forces section of its Kerch Strait and Sea of Azov crisis order-of-battle context.
Sources: bmpd Project 1204 Azov Transfer, InformNapalm Caspian Flotilla Transfer, Covert Shores Sea of Azov Naval Capabilities
Timeline
The dated public record begins on 23 May 2018, when Russian reporting placed AK-201 and AK-248 at Kerch after movement from Astrakhan and the Caspian Flotilla. The transfer occurred during the broader Azov Sea escalation after Russia's seizure of Crimea, the construction and opening of the Kerch Strait bridge, and rising confrontation over access to the Sea of Azov.
On 25 November 2018, Russian vessels rammed, fired on, and captured three Ukrainian naval vessels in the Kerch Strait incident. Bellingcat's investigation documents that confrontation and places it in the almost five-year-old Russia-Ukraine conflict; the available sources used here do not identify Project 1204 boats as the vessels that fired or rammed Ukrainian craft. Their documented role remains the surrounding Russian Kerch and Azov force posture.
Sources: bmpd Project 1204 Azov Transfer, InformNapalm Caspian Flotilla Transfer, Bellingcat Kerch Strait Incident
Operational role
In this conflict, the Shmel-class boats are best described as shallow-water security and area-control craft. The May 2018 reports connect them to protecting shipping in the Sea of Azov and Kerch Strait, reinforcing the Kerch bridge security environment, and adding small armed craft suitable for shallow water where larger Black Sea Fleet ships are less useful.
That role fits the class design: a small armored river and coastal gunboat with a shallow draft, a 76 mm gun, light automatic weapons, rockets, and mine-laying capability. The sources do not support treating the boats as independently documented strike platforms in Ukraine; they support Russian deployment, patrol/security context, and presence in the Kerch crisis environment.
Sources: bmpd Project 1204 Azov Transfer, Eurasian Research Institute Caspian Activity, Covert Shores Sea of Azov Naval Capabilities
Later Dnipro flotilla reporting
In March and May 2024, Russian and Ukrainian reporting discussed Russia's re-formed Dnieper River Flotilla and the possibility that Project 1204 boats from the Caspian Flotilla could be assigned to it. TASS cited a source saying the recreated formation was expected to receive Project 1204 Shmel and Project 1206 Kalmar boats, while Defense Express noted that open sources had not yet recorded Russian Shmel combat use against Ukraine.
For this usage page, the 2024 Dnipro material is treated as later context rather than a separate direct combat-use claim. The direct conflict-use basis remains the 2018 Kerch and Sea of Azov deployment and force-posture evidence.
Sources: TASS Dnieper Flotilla Shmel Report, Defense Express Dnipro Flotilla Caveat
