Direct proof of transfer
Smoke hand grenades are documented in the 2014 Russia-Ukraine War through U.S. Department of Defense IATI activity records for Presidential Drawdown Authority military assistance to Ukraine. The feed lists multiple smoke-hand-grenade drawdown activities, including red, yellow, green, and violet smoke hand grenades and several entries specifically naming M18 green, red, yellow, or violet smoke hand grenades.
The same DoD records describe Presidential Drawdown Authority as a mechanism for drawing down defense articles and services from U.S. Department of Defense stocks for speedy delivery to foreign countries and international organizations. For this record, the direct public evidence supports U.S. transfer to Ukraine; it does not identify a specific unit, location, or combat incident in which the grenades were used.
Sources: U.S. DoD IATI Ukraine smoke hand grenade drawdowns
Timeline
The DoD IATI feed includes 2023 drawdown identifiers for red, yellow, green, and violet smoke hand grenade activities, including entries for M18 green and M18 red smoke hand grenades. Later 2024 drawdown identifiers list M18 smoke grenades by color and designation, including G940 green, G945 yellow, G950 red, and G955 violet items.
The public feed was last updated on May 28, 2026, and shows the smoke-hand-grenade entries as part of the continuing U.S. military-assistance record for Ukraine. The record therefore supports a continuing aid-and-fielding context during the full-scale phase of the war, but not a date for first combat use.
Sources: U.S. DoD IATI Ukraine smoke hand grenade drawdowns
Role in the aid record
The Army's smoke-grenade product page describes the M18 colored smoke hand grenade as a hand-thrown munition used for ground-to-ground or ground-to-air signaling, target or landing-zone marking, and screening unit movements. It lists green, yellow, red, and violet M18 smoke colors, a roughly 30-meter throw range, and a 50-to-90-second smoke duration.
Those technical roles explain why the transferred items are cataloged here as military-assistance and fielding equipment rather than as a strike weapon. The public conflict-specific source record does not establish whether Ukrainian forces used the grenades for signaling, obscuration, marking, training, or another tactical function in any named Ukraine engagement.
Sources: Army Smoke Grenades, U.S. DoD IATI Ukraine smoke hand grenade drawdowns
