The article examines the norms of international humanitarian law in force in Ukraine regarding prisoners of war and the history of their implementation in the Ukrainian legal field. A thorough analysis of the norms of international humanitarian law and their implementation in national legislation is made. The legal regulation of the treatment of prisoners of war during martial law is considered. Attention is focused on the treatment of prisoners of war during martial law or hostilities, observance of their rights and performance of their duties. Threats of possible violations of the rights of prisoners of war are identified. In particular, it is noted that prisoners of war may be subjected to torture and ill-treatment, and may be used as labour without providing them with proper working conditions. The main reasons for the violation of the rights of prisoners of war are given: military operations, unwillingness to comply with international law, and imperfect national legislation. The article identifies the importance of compliance with international law on the treatment of prisoners of war. In order to address the problem of violations of the rights of prisoners of war, it is necessary to ensure compliance with international law, improve national legislation, and create mechanisms for monitoring the observance of the rights of prisoners of war.

The impact of the hardness of the striking element of a non-lethal kinetic weapon on the depth of its penetration into the muscle tissues of the body was studied. The empirical dependence of the depth of penetration into the target of the striking element on its hardness and speed of encounter with the target for non-lethal kinetic weapons was obtained. The specified dependence makes it possible to predict the depth of penetration into the target of the striking element and to assess the safety of non-lethal kinetic weapons for the object of its application.

Based on the generalization of the experience of participation of military units of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine in performing tasks related to the defense of the state, the article formulates requirements and proposes methodological approaches to training of operators of mini-class unmanned aerial vehicles (FPV-drones), which will make it possible to organize targeted training of FPV-drone operators not only in the training centers of the border guard agencies, but also directly in the units and on the basis of relevant volunteer organizations.

The article investigates the influence of the weight of combat equipment of a security officer on his/her manoeuvrability. It has been established that an increase in the weight of combat equipment negatively affects the time of performance of tactical actions by a security officer, which are associated with the need for manoeuvring and rapid movement in space. The dependencies of the time of performance of some tactical actions by a security officer on the weight of combat equipment are obtained. The obtained results allow rationally determining the quantitative indicators of tasks related to the need for manoeuvring and rapid movement in space, and can also be used to optimise the distribution of physical activity to individual security forces personnel of one unit in order to increase the efficiency of the unit's performance of its tasks as a whole.

This article summarizes theoretical and empirical materials on the specificity of forming the psychological readiness of servicemen to stay in conditions of forced isolation (captivity). The need to organise special psychological training for the servicemen concerning possible captivity is substantiated by the fact that the acquired knowledge and skills can help to save lives in situations of captivity and return from it. It is noted that one of the main goals of psychological training for a captivity situation is to train the military personnel of the National Guard of Ukraine to exercise self-control and self-regulation under strong psychological pressure, to learn to control behaviour in extreme conditions, etc. The authors describe the main methods used by prison guards during interrogations to break the will of prisoners, achieve their complete obedience, and change their ideals and values. Specifying the approaches to the organisation of professional and psychological training of the military personnel of the National Guard of Ukraine, the experience of the anti-terrorist operation and the Joint Forces Operation, and the repulsion of the Russian Federation's attack on Ukraine have made it possible to generalise the approaches to the training for situations of forced isolation (captivity) and to formulate key recommendations.

It has been established that the conditions under which security force units perform their tasks during a full-scale war have undergone significant changes, leading to a decrease in the survivability of security force personnel both during combat operations and while carrying out law enforcement tasks. The main factors influencing the likelihood of a security officer sustaining a combat injury have been identified, and a comprehensive set of survivability indicators for security force personnel under enemy fire conditions has been developed. Based on these indicators, a list of criteria for the survivability of security force personnel has been proposed.

The article analyses the development strategies of higher military educational institutions of Ukraine on the basis of benchmarking (studying the best practices of Ukrainian and foreign universities with a view to introducing them into the management activities of higher military educational institutions). The general trends in the positioning of development strategies of higher military educational institutions on the map of strategic alternatives, as well as strategies similar in positioning (with a similar vision of their own place in the system of higher military education, competitive advantages, etc.) It is established that the priority functional areas of development of higher military educational institutions are education, research and internationalisation, and the strategic goals of these institutions are mostly different from the strategic goals of leading Ukrainian universities, although some of them are common. Proposals are made to update the development strategies of higher military educational institutions in view of global changes in the external environment.

Modern approaches to coping justify the perspective of using the phenomena of preventiveness and proactivity, which are focused on the prevention of negative impacts on the personality. Proactivity is based on the phenomenon of personal responsibility for the results of one's life and on the idea of consciously involving and using all available resources, including knowledge, skills, information, social connections, and forming access to them. A proactive personality consciously uses means of cognitive, behavioral, and emotional self-regulation to prevent and overcome the impact of stressful events. Such features of proactivity make it a promising direction for research on the needs of servicemen recovery centers. The article presents the results of the modification and standardization of the "Proactive Coping Questionnaire" (PCQ) for a sample of Ukrainian servicemen who participated in intensive combat operations and underwent a psychological rehabilitation program. We not only translated and adapted the text of the PCI to Ukrainian realities, but also simplified it: reduced the number of statements, and added points for answers to the questionnaire form, taking into account the peculiarities of working with military personnel who were significantly physically and psychologically exhausted. The general structure of the PCQ was preserved, and the psychometric characteristics were consistent with the content of proactivity, which the developers laid down. Identified phenomena that affect the peculiarities of the implementation of proactivity in accordance with the extreme situation of participation in hostilities were described in detail during the development of schemes for interpreting the results of the new PCQ.

The success of the end of military operations in Ukraine depends on a reliable internal front, namely, support for the defense forces at all levels of government. The article analyses the budgetary and legal instruments for supporting the Armed Forces of Ukraine. According to the current legislation, the main source of support is the State Budget of Ukraine and financial support from partner countries. The current state of financing of the defense forces units of Cherkasy region is analyzed. It is found that the existing approach to providing these units does not meet the urgent needs: their maintenance is carried out at their own expense, with the help of volunteer organizations and domestic business. It is determined that an additional source of stable provision of such units may be free funds of local budgets and revenues from the personal income tax (military personnel), which have significantly increased the revenues of local self-government budgets. The author substantiates the ways of resolving the issues of inconsistency in the current legislation, in particular, the Laws of Ukraine "On Local Self-Government in Ukraine" and "On the Fundamentals of National Resistance".

A study on the status of security and defense forces personnel was conducted. The etymological meanings of the terms "service member," "employee," and "staff member" were analyzed, as well as the perspectives of leading scholars on these terms. Based on this analysis, the author formulated proposals for regulating the status of security and defense forces personnel. Through the analysis of Ukraine's regulatory framework, the norms defining the legal status of service members, employees, and staff members were summarized. Further research directions were identified, aimed at examining the relationship between the statuses of personnel in the security and defense sectors of Ukraine, including "service member," "civil servant," and "employee."