The Ministry of Defence (MoD) was blocked from including a “Slava Ukraini” (“Glory to Ukraine”) message in boxes of free cigarettes for Ukrainian troops, after being advised that the move was illegal under anti-smoking legislation.

Officials contacted a major tobacco company in 2022, asking whether the company could provide cigarettes to Ukrainian soldiers training in Britain, who had complained they were too expensive in the UK and in short supply at MoD bases.

The department asked whether it could order cigarettes in bulk and the company could include a message of support for Ukraine on an insert in the packet.

The plan was designed to emulate messages of support for troops on cigarette cards during the First World War, when brands included in their packets watercolour drawings depicting battlefield heroism.

However, the officials were advised that it was illegal to include messages on cigarettes in the UK, under anti-smoking legislation that also bans branding from packets.

The block came despite a Department of Health plan to insert messages into cigarette packets encouraging users to stop smoking. The Government has said the move could result in an extra 30,000 smokers quitting.

On Sunday, The Telegraph reported that the plan ultimately went ahead with a different company, under a request from Ben Wallace, the defence secretary at the time.

Mr Wallace’s team later organised for another tobacco company to donate the cigarettes to the soldiers.

The move was coordinated with the Treasury, which dealt with the tax implications of the free cigarettes, and the Department of Health, which did not object to the idea.

It came despite government plans to ramp up age restrictions on smoking, banning anyone born after 2009 from ever buying cigarettes.

Mr Sunak’s anti-smoking Bill was opposed by dozens of Conservative MPs in the House of Commons last week, but passed with the support of the Labour Party.

An MoD spokesman said: “The UK has trained over 60,000 Ukrainian personnel, providing them with the battlefield skills they need to fight Putin’s illegal invasion.

“Ukrainian recruits who were existing smokers are being facilitated with access to cigarettes as part of their supplied ration packs. No public money was spent on cigarettes, and we ensured that healthier nicotine alternatives and advice were available.”