Russian 2B26 Grad multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) mounted on the KamAZ-5350 chassis featured in the photo from large-scale military exercises that the Russian Armed Forces conducted in the occupied Crimea in mid-April 2021.
Volunteers of the international intelligence community InformNapalm found that these 2B26 Grad belonged to the 8th Artillery Regiment (military unit 87714, permanent deployment point in the village of Perevalnoye, Simferopol Raion, occupied Crimea). Details of the formation of this unit were reported by InformNapalm back in September 2014.
It is noteworthy that this artillery regiment has many servicemen who, before the occupation of Crimea, served in the 406th Artillery Brigade of the Ukrainian Navy and had sworn an oath of allegiance to the Ukrainian people. The commander of the unit, Colonel Dmytro Kozachenko, led a group of traitors and defected to the Russian side. Later he was appointed commander of the 8th Artillery Regiment, the newly formed unit of the Russian occupation forces in Crimea.
In October 2020, media reports appeared of an accident that took place in this regiment. One of the servicemen, senior in military rank, shot a 22-year-old contract soldier in the guardhouse. The shot was made in the head with a Makarov pistol. The mother of the deceased also reported this accident on her VK page. On April 24, 2021, details of the accident appeared in the regional press of Crimea.
Russian 2B26 Grad MLRS in the Donbas
Let us recall that the Russian 2B26 Grad rocket systems appeared for the first time on the report of the OSCE SMM in the Donbas in December 2020. In turn, OSINT investigators of InformNapalm had been providing evidence since 2016 confirming that these systems were actively used by hybrid Russian forces in the hostilities against Ukraine.
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