Russian Troops Being ‘Rushed Into Action’ To Help ‘Over-Stretched’ Forces, UK Says

Russian troops are being “rushed into action” because the country’s military is being “over-stretched” by the Ukrainian counter-offensive, UK officials have said.

Members of Moscow’s 25th Combined Arms Army, known as the 25 CAA, were not due to see combat until December.

But the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said today that they are “highly likely” to have been deployed in Ukraine already.

“It is likely that units have been rushed into action early partly because Russia continues to grapple with an over-stretched force along the front and Ukraine continues its counter-offensive on three different axes,” the MoD’s latest intelligence update said.

They said Russian military chiefs could also use the 25CAA “to regenerate an uncommitted reserve force in the theatre to provide commanders with more operational flexibility”.

The latest development came as Vladimir Putin met with North Korean Kim Jong-Un in eastern Russia.

The pair greeted each other with a bizarre 40-second handshake at the Vostochny Cosmodrome space base.

It comes amid suggestions Putin wants North Korea to supply him with weapons for the war in Ukraine.