MOSCOW, April 2. /TASS/. More than 10 million people are engaged in structured voluntary activities in Russia, Managing Director of the Obshchestvennoye Mneniye (or Public Opinion) Foundation Yelena Petrenko said, citing a research study.

"As of now, about 10 million people over the age of 18 are involved in organized voluntary work, which equals roughly ten percent of the country’s population," she pointed out.

Petrenko elaborated that it was particularly difficult to record the exact number of volunteers since some don’t realize that they in fact do volunteer work.

Chairman of the Russian Association of Volunteer Centers Artyom Metelev, in turn, said that the number of volunteer centers in Russian schools would nearly quadruple in 2018. "Around 1,350 volunteer centers currently operate in Russian schools but their number is planned to be beefed up to 5,000 before the year ends," Metelev said, adding that the Volunteers of Russia media platform would coordinate all the units’ activities.