Direct proof of use
The W85 heavy machine gun is documented in Ukrainian service during the 2014 Russia-Ukraine War through open-source imagery and reporting compiled by The Armourer's Bench. Its record begins with late October 2022 imagery from Ukraine showing a W85 mounted on what appeared to be a Fort Ranger pickup, followed by further sightings of pickup-mounted guns in Ukrainian service.
The source links the weapon to Ukrainian mobile fire-team use rather than a conventional infantry-gun role. It describes later Territorial Defence and mobile anti-drone examples, including 122nd Separate Territorial Defense Brigade photos and a mobile anti-drone unit near Kharkiv photographed with a pickup-mounted W85.
Sources: TAB Chinese HMGs in Ukraine
Timeline
The first reported W85 sighting in Ukraine dates to late October 2022, when imagery showed the weapon on a pickup-mounted technical. Additional photos in November 2022 showed the same or similar gun mounted on a pintle, with source-linked claims that it was used against Shahed-136/Geran-2 one-way attack UAVs as those weapons began appearing in southern Ukraine.
Further sightings extended the record into 2024 and 2025. A January 2024 image showed Ukrainian Territorial Defence forces with another pickup-mounted W85, and February 2025 photos from the 122nd Separate Territorial Defense Brigade showed a mobile fire team equipped with a pickup, a HMMWV, and heavy machine guns including a W85.
Sources: TAB Chinese HMGs in Ukraine
Operational narrative
In Ukrainian service, the W85 appears primarily as a vehicle-mounted heavy machine gun on improvised or field-adapted pickup platforms. The documented examples include pintle mounts, locally produced rear-bed mounts, and a Kharkiv-area pickup modified with a circular platform to give the gunner room to track moving aerial targets.
The conflict role is mobile short-range air defense against Russian one-way attack UAVs, especially Shahed/Geran-type drones, while retaining the broader fire-support role of a 12.7 mm heavy machine gun. The Armourer's Bench assessed that the guns appear to have been issued mostly to Territorial Defence Force units, which were being used for air-defense tasks against Russian Shahed one-way munitions.
The available reporting does not establish a confirmed supply route or total number of W85-family guns in Ukraine. The Armourer's Bench notes that the observed number is likely small and that the origin of the guns, including whether later examples came from transferred seized Iranian arms shipments, remains unclear.
Sources: TAB Chinese HMGs in Ukraine
