Direct proof of use
The Valuk's documented connection to the 2014 Russia-Ukraine War is Slovenia's 2023 transfer of vehicles to Ukraine. Slovenian outlet 24ur reported on April 26, 2023 that the Slovenian government had delivered 20 Pandur-type Valuk armored vehicles to Ukraine and that the final vehicle had arrived that week after a months-long preparation, servicing, and transport operation.
Interfax-Ukraine republished the same transfer report in English, describing 20 Valuk armored vehicles supplied to Ukraine and noting the Slovenian Ministry of Defense position that the type and volume of military aid decisions were not public. Oryx's Slovenia aid inventory later listed 20 Valuks delivered in April 2023 under armored personnel carriers.
Sources: 24ur Valuk Ukraine transfer, Interfax-Ukraine Valuk transfer, Oryx Slovenia aid inventory
Timeline
By April 2023, the delivery was publicly reported as complete. 24ur said the vehicles had been prepared and serviced before air transport through a nearby logistics hub, while Interfax-Ukraine summarized the reported route as airlift to one of the Ukraine-aid collection centers in Poland or Slovakia.
The same reporting described the transferred Valuks as 6x6 wheeled armored vehicles armed with either 40 mm automatic grenade launchers or 12.7 mm machine guns. 24ur characterized their intended role as infantry transport with protection against anti-personnel mines and infantry weapons up to 12.7 mm caliber.
Sources: 24ur Valuk Ukraine transfer, Interfax-Ukraine Valuk transfer
Role in Ukrainian service
The public evidence supports a protected-mobility and force-protection role rather than a specific documented combat action. The Valuk is therefore best described in Ukrainian service as an armored infantry transport supplied during the full-scale invasion phase.
Defense Express, citing 24ur, treated the transfer as completed to the Armed Forces of Ukraine and emphasized the Valuk's Pandur I lineage, three-person crew plus six dismount capacity, and light armored-personnel-carrier role. The Slovenian Army's own equipment material for the ST Ravne LKOSV Valuk ambulance variant separately anchors the Valuk family as a 6x6 protected vehicle with a 3+6 layout and 100 km/h listed road speed, but that official page does not itself document the Ukraine transfer.
Sources: Defense Express Valuk analysis, Slovenian Army logistics equipment, 24ur Valuk Ukraine transfer