• Russia recruited a unit of soldiers and told them they would only be deployed until December. 
  • But the unit was "rushed into action early," UK intelligence said in an update on Wednesday.
  • They were sent to the front lines quickly because Russian forces were overstretched, it said.

Russia enticed soldiers to join a new unit by saying it wouldn't fight in Ukraine for months, then sent it straight to the front, UK intelligence said on Wednesday. 

In a recruitment advert for the new 25th Combined Arms Army (25AA) in August this year, Russia "claimed it would only deploy to Ukraine from December 23," the British Ministry of Defense said in its daily intelligence update.

But it is "likely" that the unit "rushed into action early" as Russia "continues to grapple with an over-stretched force along the front and Ukraine continues its counter-offensive on three different axes," the update continued. 

It is unclear when exactly the unit was dispatched. The Ministry of Defence did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment. 

The Ministry of Defense also said that Russian military officials could use the 25CAA "to regenerate an uncommitted reserve force in the theatre to provide commanders with more operational flexibility."

 

Russian forces have almost completely occupied Ukraine's eastern Luhansk Oblast.

The update comes as Ukraine makes advances in its grueling counteroffensive, which was launched in early June.

The military operation has seen Kyiv begin to recapture territory once occupied by Russia, including more than a dozen villages in the Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk regions.

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of Russian military equipment and weapons have been destroyed and captured.

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