Direct proof of use
Project 1400M Grif/Zhuk boats are documented in the 2014 Russia-Ukraine War as Ukrainian maritime-security craft rather than as major combatants. USNI News reported in September 2014 that a Ukrainian Zhuk-class patrol craft attached to the Mariupol Marine Guard was operating near Bezimenne on the Sea of Azov when land-based artillery fire sank it; eight crew were rescued, seven were treated for burns, and two were missing.
The class reappeared in the full-scale invasion phase as captured or lost Ukrainian State Border Service equipment. VPK.name reported that Russian forces captured Ukrainian Navy and State Border Service vessels in Berdyansk in March 2022 and identified two Project 1400M boats, including BG-118 Arabat. RussianShips.info separately lists Ukrainian Project 1400M hulls as captured at Berdyansk and Mariupol or sunk at Mariupol during the 2022 fighting.
Later open-source naval analysis described several captured Project 1400M Zhuk patrol boats among the Ukrainian vessels taken at Berdyansk, with some captured vessels moved to Novorossiysk by late April 2022. The available sources support Ukrainian service and capture or loss in the conflict; they do not establish a clear subsequent Russian combat employment record for the captured Project 1400M boats.
Sources: USNI Zhuk Patrol Boat Sunk, VPK Captured Ukrainian Ships in Berdyansk, RussianShips Project 1400 Grif, Covert Shores Captured Ukrainian Vessels
Timeline
The earliest located wartime incident is the August 2014 shelling of Ukrainian patrol craft near Bezimenne, reported by USNI News on September 2, 2014. That report places a Zhuk-class craft in an active Sea of Azov patrol role between Russian-held Crimea and contested eastern Ukraine during the first year of the war.
In February and March 2022, the evidence shifts from patrol operations to captures and losses during Russia's seizure of southern coastal areas. VPK.name reported that Berdyansk came under Russian control on February 28, 2022, and that State Border Service Project 1400M boats were among the craft left there. RussianShips.info lists BG-114 and BG-118 Arabat as captured at Berdyansk on February 28, while also listing Mariupol Project 1400M losses or captures as the siege unfolded.
Sources: USNI Zhuk Patrol Boat Sunk, VPK Captured Ukrainian Ships in Berdyansk, RussianShips Project 1400 Grif
Operational role
In Ukrainian service, the Project 1400M's conflict role was coastal and border patrol, harbor security, and maritime presence along the Sea of Azov coast. USNI News described the 2014 patrols as part of an effort to prevent improvised amphibious landings by pro-Russian forces behind Ukrainian lines.
The 2022 record is mostly a captured-equipment and force-protection record. VPK.name's Berdyansk account and RussianShips.info's hull list identify Project 1400M boats at Ukrainian State Border Service facilities rather than documenting them conducting offensive operations. Army Recognition, summarizing Ukrainian naval losses, listed two captured Zhuk-class patrol boats and described the class as a small border patrol vessel armed with twin 12.7 mm machine guns.
The sources prove presence, patrol use, capture, and loss in the war more strongly than they prove later active use by Russian forces. The documented role is therefore Ukrainian maritime-security equipment captured or lost during the coastal campaign.
Sources: USNI Zhuk Patrol Boat Sunk, VPK Captured Ukrainian Ships in Berdyansk, RussianShips Project 1400 Grif, Army Recognition Ukrainian Naval Losses
