Russia reportedly deploys display tank after huge losses in Ukraine

Russia has reportedly deployed a T-90MS main battle tank, originally displayed as a desert-camouflaged exhibition model at the IDEX 2025 arms fair in the United Arab Emirates, to the frontline in Ukraine. According to the Russian manufacturer UralVagonZavod, the tank was repainted in standard military green and sent into combat with minimal modifications from its exhibited configuration. This move is unusual, as display units are typically reserved for foreign clients or kept out of immediate operational use, indicating urgent needs to replenish armored vehicle losses or fill gaps in upgraded tank inventories amid ongoing heavy attrition. Since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russia has suffered significant losses of tanks and armored vehicles, with estimates suggesting thousands of main battle tanks destroyed, damaged, or captured. To compensate, Russia has been refurbishing older Soviet-era tanks and ramping up production of modernized models like the T-90M “Proryv,” with output increasing from around 60