The Russian armoured forces entered the 21st century with a large number of very diverse vehicles, the most advanced of which was the T-80 family. The best among them were the T-80UDs, but their continued operation proved problematic due to difficulties servicing their diesel engines, produced by the Ukrainian KhKBM, on domestic territory, while the T-80BV was already obsolete both in protection and in firepower. As a cheap way to raise the technical level of the tank fleet, it was decided to remove turrets from decommissioned T-80UDs and install them on T-80BV hulls. The vehicles were also modernised by fitting a second-generation thermal imager, modifying the autoloader to enable use of lengthened APFSDS rounds, installing Kontakt-5 explosive reactive armour on the hull, and fitting a more powerful engine. The modernised vehicle, designated T-80UE-1, was accepted into service in 2005; no more than a hundred units were produced.

This special version of the T-80UE-1 was introduced as part of the 2025 Senrai Maidens event. Compared to the other premium version, the tank differs by a unique exterior styled after the character Maria, embodying a storm of fire, smoke and speed. Otherwise, they are identical. Thus, the T-80UE-1’s gun offers a wide selection of ammunition, from APFSDS rounds with good penetration and tandem ATGMs to high-explosive fragmentation shells with a large explosive charge, while its autoloading is somewhat slower than manual loading on NATO tanks, but does not depend on the condition of the crew. A significant advantage over other Soviet tanks is also the second-generation thermal imager and the faster turret traverse. Otherwise, like other tanks of the series, it has quite strong frontal armour and good mobility, but low survivability due to a dense internal layout and a low reverse speed.