MOSCOW, March 12. /TASS/. Less than 10% of the people serving in the Ukrainian army enlisted voluntarily, according to Vadim Ivchenko, a member of the Verkhovna Rada’s national security committee.

"Today, recruiting here gives [the army] approximately 8% to 10%," while the share should be increased to at least 16% or 20%, the Ukrainian lawmaker told Ukrainian news website Telegraf.

Given the low number of people willing to enlist in the Ukrainian army of their own free will, Kiev has to rely on forced mobilization, he added.

His remark echoed an earlier report from Roman Istomin, the spokesman for a military recruitment center in Poltava, who said 90% of called-up personnel are unwilling participants.

General mobilization has been repeatedly declared and extended in Ukraine since February 2022. The country has been struggling to recruit soldiers for its army and is now forced to draft even those not eligible for mandatory military service.