Ukraine’s Nemesis 412th Regiment has added another trophy to its growing collection of destroyed Soviet-era weaponry: the Grad-P portable rocket launcher.
Originally developed in 1965 by the Soviet Union for use by North Vietnamese forces, the Grad-P system was designed as a lightweight, shoulder-fired system capable of engaging personnel, fortifications, and light vehicles in environments unsuitable for traditional artillery.
Read more: Damaged But Not Destroyed: Ukrainian M1224 MaxxPro Brought to Safety From Behind Enemy Lines (Video)
Between 1965 and 1972, Soviet factories produced just 1,381 units of the Grad-P system, making it one of the rarer Soviet rocket systems. Over the decades it saw action not only in the rice paddies of Vietnam but also in the scorching theaters of the Horn of Africa during the Ethiopia–Somalia conflict, in attacks by Palestinian militants against Israel, and most recently in the hands of russian forces in Ukraine since 2014.
Surviving the humidity of Southeast Asian jungles, the heat of East Africa, and the deserts of the Middle East, the Grad-P system finally met its end in the windswept plains near Zaporizhzhia. The Nemesis Regiment’s successful strike not only removes a threat to Ukrainian defenders but also deprives russia’s proxies of rare and historically significant weapon.
While the loss of a single launcher may seem tactical, its destruction carries outsized symbolic weight. Each eliminated piece of Cold War hardware diminishes the arsenal of russia’s irregular forces and underscores Ukraine’s ongoing efforts to clear its territory.
For the Nemesis Regiment, the destruction of the Grad-P system is both a tactical accomplishment and a reminder of the long, dark lineage of Soviet weaponry now being consigned to history.
Read more: Repeated Shelling of Ukrainian Positions Led to the Identification and Elimination of Hidden T-72B3 Tank (Video)
