Thread by @BuschModelar

[THREAD]
Russian Pantsir-S1 in camouflage for Iraq, March 2024, Eastern Ukraine.

Whether these Pantsirs are spare from allegedly cancelled Iraqi order or were redirected from the Iraqi deal is not known. But rumours and data might suggested...

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine

In October 2012, Iraq ordered some 42-48 Pantsirs from Russia, however later on information came out about alleged corruption and that the deal had been canceled. Then information that the deal is ongoing, in 2015 first public reveal of Pantsirs and by 2016 the deal was finished.

But with the deal being closed came also statement that "more than 20 Pantsirs have been delivered to Iraq." And to this day only 24 Pantsirs S-1 have been confirmed to be in Iraqi service.
Despite this, pic released in November 2014 from production line featured Pantsir No.47.

So what happened to the rest that has not been delivered? Iraq likely indeed cancelled part of the deal and Russia then tried to sell them elsewhere, like with Egyptian Su-35s that ended up in Iran. These probably never sold and due to losses in Ukraine became very handy.

Although that's just my speculation, it might take years before we know the full story of how Pantsir-S1s in this attractive sandy camouflage made their way to Russian forces and subsequently to Ukraine.
Nevertheless, this isn't the first time they were spotted in Ukraine.

Photo of crew reloading Pantsir in the exact same camouflage somewhere in Ukraine made rounds on the internet already in December 2022, though judging by the foliage it is slightly older, likely from September/October 2022 or maybe even older.

Note that unlike the radar on Iraqi Pantsir-S1s, the Russian example at the start of the thread has a different colour on its radar.
By the way, these aren't the only sand colored Pantsirs in Ukraine, Wagner operates theirs brought from Africa.

[The End]

Well of course The Dead District stole it, like always, even though he has me blocked…