"The Parliament has voted 'yes'... on the voluntary mobilisation of prisoners. The draft law opens the possibility for certain categories of prisoners who expressed a desire to defend their country to join the Defense Forces," MP Olena Shuliak, head of President Volodymyr Zelensky's party, said in a Facebook post.

The law needs to be signed by the chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada and Zelensky before it comes into force.