On April 13, 2019, a drone of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission  spotted a Russian artillery reconnaissance and target designation radar station (1L259, part of the Zoopark-1 system) near Horlivka city (39 km north-east of Donetsk). The spotting was reported on April 16.

This type of Russian equipment has been seen in Donbas before. In August 2016, Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine reported that militants deployed two radar reconnaissance systems Zoopark-1 on the western outskirts of Horlivka.

Information from the Ukrainian military intelligence triggered our own search for photo evidence in the social media accounts of Russian soldiers. And in November 2016 , this system was also caught by InformNapalm volunteers.

Zoopark-1 (GRAU index – 1L219M)

Radar reconnaissance and fire control system (counter-battery radar). The system ha s been designed for reconnaissance of enemy fire positions (MLRS, artillery and mortar positions, tactical missile launchers and air defense systems, etc.), for calculating the trajectories of projectiles and missiles, adjusting the friendly firepower, airspace tracking and control of unmanned aerial vehicles.

Specifications of Zoopark-1 system:

• mortar reconnaissance range – 13-17 km;
• gun artillery reconnaissance range – 10-12 km;
• MLRS reconnaissance range – 15-22 km;
• tactical missile reconnaissance range – 40-45 km.

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