Direct proof of use
The Project 58181 / Project 58503 Centaur-LK appears in the 2014 Russia-Ukraine War record through Ukrainian Navy wartime reporting on a Centaur-LK assault boat. Defence Express, summarizing a Ukrainian Navy/Bryz report published in June 2023, said the boat had carried out 15 troop landings during operations to de-occupy southern Ukraine, used its onboard armament to support troops during insertions and withdrawals, and evacuated another boat damaged by a Russian anti-ship missile.
The same reporting described an air-defense episode in which the crew reportedly shot down two Russian cruise missiles with portable air-defense missile launchers carried aboard. Ukrainian Military Pages later identified the featured craft as the third Centaur-LK hull, DShK No. 3 with yard number 01037, and said it had been under repair after a missile hit while already credited with landings or evacuations, mine barriers, and a combat search-and-rescue mission.
Sources: Defence Express Centaur Missions, Ukrainian Military Pages Centaur-LK, 5 Kanal Centaur Combat Report
Timeline
The available public chronology begins with emergency wartime fielding rather than a prewar combat debut. Defence Express reported that the crew was already formed and boarded on 23 February 2022, the day before Russia's full-scale invasion, while the boat may still have been at the manufacturer's facility during handover to the Navy.
By June 2023, Ukrainian Navy/Bryz and follow-on reporting described a record of southern landing operations, fire support, evacuation under threat, missile-strike damage, and reported cruise-missile shootdowns. Ukrainian Military Pages connected that June 2023 report to DShK No. 3 and noted that the boat had entered Ukrainian Navy service in 2022 after the full-scale invasion.
Sources: Defence Express Centaur Missions, Ukrainian Military Pages Centaur-LK, 5 Kanal Centaur Combat Report
Operational role
In documented Ukrainian service, the Centaur-LK's role was a small armored assault and landing craft for littoral or riverine missions. The reported missions emphasize transport and extraction of troops, close fire support during landing and evacuation, rescue of personnel from another damaged boat, and minelaying or mine-barrier work indicated by mission markings.
The air-defense claim is narrower: the sources describe MANPADS carried aboard and used by the crew, not an integrated shipborne missile system. That makes the Centaur-LK a carrier and firing platform for portable air-defense weapons in this record, alongside its primary assault, mobility, and fire-support roles.
The public sources do not name every operation, landing site, or date. The clearest supported conflict-use claim is that at least one Ukrainian Centaur-LK boat was fielded in the full-scale invasion phase and used for southern landing or evacuation missions, onboard fire support, rescue, mine-barrier work, and reported portable-missile air-defense engagements.
Sources: Defence Express Centaur Missions, Ukrainian Military Pages Centaur-LK, 5 Kanal Centaur Combat Report
