These vehicles made their first Kiev appearance in 1996, in Depot No. 3. When making a decision on their fleet numbers, little creativity was exercised: The first available three-digit series was taken, which turned out to be 5** (not long before, it was in use by the Kiev-11U's of Depot No. 1). That's how trolleybuses 501–550 came into being. The first one of those was subsequently transferred to Severodonetsk, where it works under the same number, 501; in 2008, two others, 524 and 527, followed it to the same destination.
In May 2005, the YuMZ's played an indirect role in Eurovision-2005. Not in the song contest itself, of course, but in the show staged by Kiev City Hall. A majority of the MAZ trolleybuses from Depots No. 1 and 2 were temporarily assigned to route 3 in order to create a false impression with the foreign guests that all Kiev trolleybuses are modern low-floor ones. To compensate for the deficit, the YuMZes which normally served that route occupied the Goloseev line, where they can never be normally seen, since there aren't any in Depot No. 1. Some pictures commemorating this "event" are included in this gallery.