The missile was accepted into service on 24 April 1961; initial operational capability for the first division of four launchers was achieved on 31 December 1961, with the first regiment organized the next day.

By the end of 1962 two regiments were fully operational in Ukraine and Latvia, with later surface launch pad sites in Kaliningrad and Belarus.

[2][3] Prior to the onset of the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, the Soviet Union planned to deploy two regiments with 32 R-14 IRBMs and 16 launchers to Cuba.

By the time the United States declared a quarantine of the island, 24 one-megaton warheads had arrived but no missiles or launchers had yet been shipped.

Some soft site phase-outs began in 1969, and the missile was gradually replaced by the RSD-10 Pioneer between 1978 and 1983, being completely withdrawn from service in 1984.

Following the signing of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, the remaining six R-14 missiles in storage were scrapped on 9 August 1989.