Critical Objective Research Articles

A mathematical representation of an automated system designed to monitor critical infrastructure objects using seismic and acoustic signals

The article considers the mathematical model of the automated system of seismoacoustic monitoring of critical infrastructure objects. In the monitoring approach, the object is identified with a point in the multidimensional space of free model parameters. Thus, the forecast about the state of the object is a forecast of a significant shift in the position of the parameter vector in the parameters space. When choosing a mathematical model, it is necessary to select a space of informative parameters to reduce the probability of errors of two types. First of all, it is necessary to build a mathematical model of the dynamics of the OKI, which reflects the most significant moments of the monitoring process, including both the process itself and the disturbances accompanying this process and the noise background superimposed on the process of the dynamics of the state of the OKI. A priori knowledge of the interference of an arbitrary process will significantly weaken its influence on obtaining estimates of the parameters of the process, which is perceived as a useful signal. This attenuation is achieved by optimizing processing procedures that take into account the a priori statistics of the random interference process. A new mathematical model in the form of a superposition of Berlasi pulses in the seismoacoustic frequency range and constructive algorithms for its implementation are proposed. The mathematical properties of the model were studied. Thus, the state of OKI is reflected in the vector of free parameters of the above model. To evaluate the informative parameters of the proposed model of the automated seismo-acoustic monitoring system, the work solves the problem of nonlinear regression, considering them as the point of the criterion optimum in the n-dimensional space. In the situation that has developed in our country, related to the conduct of military operations on its territory and missile attacks, the creation of automated seismo-acoustic monitoring systems of critical infrastructure objects is a necessary task.

Analysis of scenarios of the use of unmanned aircraft against critical infrastructure objects

The purpose of the work is to analyze the use of unmanned aerial vehicles in ensuring the safety of critical infrastructure facilities. To achieve the goal, the following tasks were solved. First, the problem was considered and the research task was set. It is shown that unmanned aerial vehicles pose a significant danger to critical state infrastructure facilities. At the next stage, typical objects of the state’s critical infrastructure are described and a typical nuclear power plant is taken as an example. It is shown that unmanned aerial vehicles have a wide range of typification both by design features and by classification features. The analysis was carried out and possible ways of using unmanned aerial vehicles against the object of critical infrastructure were presented. It is shown that small and medium-sized unmanned aerial vehicles can be used by criminals as both reconnaissance and local strike means of damaging the infrastructure of a critical infrastructure object. Large unmanned aerial vehicles can be used as unguided means of destruction and as means of supporting the actions of sabotage groups. Recommendations are provided for the protection of critical infrastructure objects from the action of unmanned aerial vehicles of various classifications, namely the use of electronic warfare systems, radar systems, thermal imaging systems, sound detection systems of unmanned aerial vehicles and the use of large-caliber cannon-machine gun stationary and mobile anti-aircraft systems for their neutralization , portable and stationary anti-aircraft missile systems and systems for interception of unmanned aerial vehicles using a directed electromagnetic signal.

ОБҐРУНТУВАННЯ СИЛ І ЗАСОБІВ НАЦІОНАЛЬНОЇ ГВАРДІЇ УКРАЇНИ, ЗАЛУЧЕНИХ ДО ВИКОНАННЯ ЗАВДАНЬ ІЗ ЗАХИСТУ КРИТИЧНОЇ ІНФРАСТРУКТУРИ ВІД ПОВІТРЯНИХ ЦІЛЕЙ

An analysis of critical infrastructure objects, which have different levels of criticality categories, and the importance of assigning individual units to destroy air targets, was carried out. The existing objects of critical infrastructure, which are subject to protection and defense by the National Guard of Ukraine in the conditions of resistance to the armed aggression of the Russian Federation, and the areas of responsibility of operational-territorial associations and military units under direct control, which carry out the protection and defense of the specified objects, were studied. The need for components of the defense system for the protection of critical infrastructure objects by military units (units) of the National Guard of Ukraine, which perform the task of destroying enemy air targets, is considered. The organization of interaction in the general air target detection system, which is connected to the network of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, air defense units and aims to detect enemy air targets aimed at destroying the country's critical infrastructure facilities protected by the National Guard of Ukraine, is analyzed. It is proposed to define the defense sectors of the critical infrastructure object to form the necessary type and quantity of weapons and equipment necessary for the destruction of air targets both in the approaches to the object and in the distance from it.

THE METHOD OF CONSTRUCTING THE LAW OF THE SECURITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM OF CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE OBJECTS IN THE CONDITIONS OF EXTERNAL UNCONTROLLED INFLUENCES

The intensive development of information technologies with a high degree of autonomy requires the development of autonomous management systems for optimal management. This issue is especially acute for critical infrastructure objects that have been proven to be affected by extreme external factors and impacts. It is proposed to consider the management process as management in a system with incomplete a priori information about the managed process. The process of managing which changes as information accumulates and is used to improve the operation of the entire security system in general. An identification approach to the synthesis of indirect adaptive control is used, which consists in specifying the model of the object during the control process. On the basis of the refined model, a safety control signal of the object is produced. The model of the object needs clarification because the system is constantly affected by external uncontrolled influences. The difference between the proposed method and the existing ones is that it offers a method of building a robust control system that allows to compensate for unknown disturbances with a certain accuracy in the required time. At the same time, by selecting the parameters of the closed system, it is possible to make the error and time values sufficiently small.

“Ab Hoc Dispersione Nomen Rossicum”: G. S. Bayer’s Etymological Quest in the Context of the Scholarly Tradition

This article examines the ideas on the origin of the name Rus (Russian: русь) formulated by Gottlieb Siegfried Bayer (1694–1738), a professor at the St Petersburg Academy of Sciences. Bayer expressed his observations in an unfinished Latin text published after his death in the journal of the Academy. Using this publication, which has never been translated into Russian, the authors of the article examine Bayer’s critical comments and objections to various versions of the origin of the name Rus. Bayer’s text is a kind of catalogue of hypotheses that existed in the academic world in the first half of the eighteenth century. From the point of view of modern scholarship, all of them can be regarded as naive folk etymologies or legends (for example, the creation of the name Rus from the ancient name of a river, its comparison with the biblical people of Rosch, or the appeal to the legend of the brothers Lech, Czech and Rus, etc.). These versions are subjected to a fair and ironic criticism by Bayer. Based on new research on ideas of ethnic nomination, the authors place the versions in the context of discussions in historical writings of the sixteenth–eighteenth centuries. The results of the analysis of Bayer’s arguments show that he often makes very good use of his knowledge of ancient and modern languages and of the historical context to criticise other people’s versions. The article also examines in detail the etymology to which Bayer himself adheres. According to Bayer, the name of the Russian people comes from the Slavic word рассеяние (“dispersion”). This etymology was proposed in the sixteenth century by the Austrian diplomat Siegmund von Herberstein and supported by some Polish and German scholars. The authors show that Bayer finds additional historical and linguistic arguments for this hypothesis, which, of course, do not withstand the criticism of contemporary scholarship. The article notes the influence of Bayer’s hypothesis on the ideas of G. F. Mьller. The authors suppose that a certain forgetfulness of Bayer’s hypothesis is due to the fact that it contradicts his reputation as a “Normanist”.

System for remote monitoring and management of mobile and stationaryobjects and controlling of alcohol content in the blood of the personnel ofthese objects

Summary: The relevance of the development of technical systems designed to monitorthe physical condition of vehicle drivers, operators of technological equipment andpersonnel of critical information objects and blocking access to hardware and softwarecontrols of these objects in cases where it is established that their health indicatorsdeviate from the norm, includ- ing being under the influence of alcohol is argued. Theprocess of absorption, distribution and excretion of alcohol from the human body isanalyzed. It has been shown that, due to the volatility of alcohol, it is possible todetermine its concentration in the blood by analyzing deep alveolar air. The coefficientsfor converting the concentration of alcohol in deep alveolar air into the concentration ofalcohol in the blood, adopted by the legislation of different countries, are given. The basicrequirements for breath analyzers for alcohol, providing the necessary evidence of the examination results, including reliability, documentation and dating of the results are formulated. The use of an electrochemical sensor as the basis of the developed system is substantiated and the principle of its operation is described. A block diagram of the developed system for remote monitoring and control of mobile and stationary objectsand controlling the blood alcohol content of the personnel of these objects is presented.The system is based on the developed integrated circuit, controlled by a program modulewritten in the object-oriented programming language C++. The proposed system can beinstalled in any vehicles and stationary facilities and allows to monitor the level of alcohol in the blood of drivers and personnel of these facilities, to block control if thedriver/operator is intoxicated and report this to law enforcement agencies and/or the management of the enterprise. The system also monitors the speed, location and movement of moving objects in real time, notifies drivers about the situation on the route, based on information received from other controlled objects, and allows operators to control remote objects. Protecting measures against driver/operator actions aimed tofalsify the results of a blood alcohol test have been proposed.

Organizational and technological features of geodetic observations of earth surface deformations

The article examines a complex of organizational, technological and economic measures to ensure observations of deformations of the earth's surface. The authors provide an overview of issues of improving the safety of buildings located in seismically active and landslide zones of the Russian Federation, and offer recommendations for improving monitoring methods. The need for careful consideration of the geodynamic factor during the construction and operation of not only especially critical unique objects, but also mass housing construction projects is substantiated. To study geodynamic processes occurring in the territories of populated areas or in the territories of large industrial enterprises and engineering structures, it is proposed to create specialized observation systems - geodynamic polygons. The authors propose an organizational and technological scheme for observations at the geodynamic site. Research methods for making organizational and technological decisions are discussed. Effective organization of work will allow us to study abnormal vertical and horizontal movements and prevent possible damage to infrastructure. The authors of the article also discuss and justify recommendations for performing and processing geodetic observations of deformations of the earth's surface.

Use of a GIS System to Visualize the Levels of Risk in the Areas of Critical Infrastructure Objects

Use of a GIS System to Visualize the Levels of Risk in the Areas of Critical Infrastructure Objects

The impact of changes in gas consumption on the selection of critical gas industry objects

The article is devoted to the problem of finding critically important objects of the gas industry from the standpoint of ensuring energy security. A critically important object is a partial or complete failure of which can cause significant damage to the country from the fuel and energy complex as a whole or within a separate energy system. The current state of the gas industry is characterized, on the one hand, by a significant decrease in gas exports to Europe, and on the other hand, by a significantly increased gas consumption within the country. The article presents the results of calculations in which the authors analyze how the change in the structure of gas consumption affected the previously found critically important objects of the gas industry. The change in the significance of these objects on the operability of the Russian gas industry is shown. Conclusions are made on the need to adjust the list of critically important objects of the gas industry.

BIBLIOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH ON CURRENT PROBLEMS OF THE CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT

At present, in the global world, multifaceted issues of the development of critical infrastructure in the conditions of the formation of a security environment have become especially relevant. This is due, first, to the fact that critical infrastructure facilities in the countries of the world are subject to real or potential threats created by natural disasters, ecological and man-made disasters, terrorist attacks, and military conflicts. In view of this, the purpose of this study is to determine the trends and key areas of research in the development of critical infrastructure in the context of global challenges and threats based on bibliometric analysis using the VOSviewer software. As a result of the study, it was established that the development of critical infrastructure is a process of transformational changes of priority and strategically important objects, systems, networks for the economy through the transition of key infrastructure components to a qualitatively new level of functioning due to adaptation to the variability and instability of the exogenous environment, taking into account the influence of possible threats, risks and modern challenges. In this regard, the development of critical infrastructure is connected with the processes of its modernization, restoration and reconstruction. In this regard, the article carries out a bibliometric analysis of the relationship between the terms “critical infrastructure development”, “critical infrastructure restoration”, “critical infrastructure reconstruction”, “critical infrastructure modernization”. A network visualization map of citations of articles on the development of critical infrastructure was built using the VOSviewer toolkit. Visualization of the network map of keywords based on bibliographic data made it possible to single out 4 clusters that characterize the key areas of research: identification, adaptation, digitization, disasters and natural disasters. It has been proven that the priority direction of further research should be the substantiation of the National Strategy for the Protection of Critical Infrastructure in Ukraine, taking into accounts the best world practices and the development of recommendations for improving the regulatory and legal support for the development of critical infrastructure from the standpoint of national security. Keywords: national economy, critical infrastructure, critical infrastructure objects, threat, vulnerability, danger, risk, national security, protection, sustainability, transformation, modernization, recovery, bibliometric analysis, trend analysis, cluster analysis, research clusters, international scientometric bases.

STATISTICAL METHODS FOR PREDICTING PHISHING ATTACKS

The article proposes a methodology for predicting so-called phishing attacks, which are a common form of cybercrime, the number of which is growing every year, and the level of their harmful impact on the information systems of critical infrastructure objects is also increasing. To analyze trends and predict phishing attacks, we used statistical data published in scientific works of domestic and foreign researchers, as well as published by online publications of leading consulting companies working in the field of information security and cybersecurity. Statistical methods based on the use of time series, as one of the popular approaches used to predict various technological and economic processes, were chosen as tools for researching and predicting phishing attacks. This made it possible to analyze the types and patterns of phishing attacks that attackers use to disrupt the operation of software of information and communication systems and automated systems. Based on time series analysis, a trend model was built for the number of detected phishing attacks for the period 2020–2023. A calculation was made of the predicted number of phishing attacks for 16 quarters of 2020–2023, as well as the estimated forecast of the occurrence of these attacks for four quarters of 2024. To improve the forecast, a coefficient taking into account the seasonality factor was calculated and a correlation and regression analysis of the impact of phishing attacks on the total number of attacks detected during 2020–2023 was performed. Calculations have been performed, indicating that the discrepancies in the predicted values are not significant; the results presented allow us to select the optimal strategy for identifying, predicting and eliminating computer attacks related to phishing. Based on the time series model and the calculations obtained, it was concluded that statistical forecasting methods make it possible to build a forecast of phishing attacks, provide in the future the opportunity to develop and formulate methods for countering these attacks, and plan measures to increase the level of security of information resources.

The project of the “turn” of Siberian rivers: The dynamics of presentation in the texts of the Soviet media

The authors of the article analyze the materials of one of the most famous public polemics of the Soviet period. The purpose is to identify factors affecting the specifics of the presentation of a scientific idea in the media; mechanisms for the formation of broadcast meanings depending on the status and communicative attitudes of participants in scientific polemics, a description of the object and markers of objections of various types and forms. The empirical basis of the research is publications in the media of the 1950–1980s. The empirical base was created in accordance with the principle of representative sampling. The methodological foundations of the analytical approach were developed by our predecessors when formatting the cognitive approach to the study of the communicative interaction of speech subjects. When creating the analytical algorithm, modern methods of intentional-stylistic analysis of the media text were used. The main conclusion: the communicative trajectory of the promotion of a scientific idea depends not only on the addressee factor, the information channel, but also on the features of the global communicative situation, the status characteristics of the subject of speech, his communicative attitudes. At different stages of scientific controversy in the public communicative space, the volume of scientific knowledge presented in the process of its popularization changes. The results of scientific research, the results of the work of specialized expert commissions, historical analogies, precedent information about similar projects are introduced into public communication. The administrative capabilities of the subject of speech provoke the use of tricks instead of verbalized versions of the objection, changing the object of criticism. The motivational part of the communicative trajectory is represented not only by calls to suspend the project embodying the scientific idea under discussion, but, crucially, by alternative ideas that stimulate scientific search in a certain area. The potential of the media material selected for analysis provides untapped opportunities to study the process of socialization of scientific knowledge, the deployment of public polemics as a means of neutralizing anti-scientific administrative decisions.

The Blogosphere of Ukraine: Content Analysis of the Anti-Vaccine Campaign During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Introduction. The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered a surge in existing anti-vaccine sentiments in Ukraine, posing a threat to public health. This study aims to analyze the anti-vaccine campaign in the Ukrainian blogosphere, which intensified during the pandemic and coalesced around issues related to the coronavirus. Relevance of the study. The relevance of the study is determined by the increasing popularity of anti-vaccine sentiments in Ukraine, which are facilitated by the growing influence of the blogosphere as a powerful channel for disseminating destructive content. The study aims to identify the key categories that bloggers appealed to while conducting the campaign against vaccination for coronavirus disease in Ukraine during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methodology. To determine the most influential representatives of the anti-vaccine movement in Ukraine, a media monitoring was conducted focusing on the exposure of fakes and misinformation regarding COVID-19. A list of the channels of the most popular Ukrainian bloggers who are corona-skeptics and opponents of vaccination was compiled. Subsequently, 232 videos published on these bloggers’ channels were studied. The content analysis method was applied to identify the key messages and calls used by vaccination opponents. Results. The most popular representatives of the anti-vaccine movement in Ukraine were found to be lawyers, pseudo-experts, citizen journalists, and proponents of conspiracy theories. The media activity of anti-vaccination bloggers was recorded throughout the entire pandemic of the coronavirus disease in Ukraine and for some time after its end. The chronology and reasons for the main surges in their activity and audience interest are revealed. The study identified the most common categories appealed to by bloggers in the anti-vaccination campaign, as well as their calls to action and objects of their criticism. Conclusions. The study demonstrates that Ukrainian vaccination opponents politicize vaccination issues, actively using conspiratorial rhetoric. The key categories of coronaskeptics bloggers’ messages include violations of rights (both fundamental rights and rights to work, choice, etc.), safety (of vaccines or the disease itself), conspiracy theories and moral. The most popular appeal of vaccination opponents is to “think critically” and not comply with requirements related to vaccination or quarantine restrictions. The main objects of criticism are authorities, various institutions, and the media. Further investigation into the discursive strategies of anti-vaccine campaigns will contribute to the formation of an effective counter-narrative.

COVID-19 MANDATORY VACCINATION OF SPECIAL STATUS PUBLIC SECTOR EMPLOYEES. AN ANALYSIS OF REQUESTS FOR EXEMPTION IN THE US AIR FORCE

One of the largest public sector operations in the world is within the United States of America military, with over 2 million service members and approximately 1.4 million full-time equivalent civilian workers, with bases and operations in at least 80 different nations. The US military made COVID-19 vaccinations (COVAX) mandatory among all members but allows for requests to accommodate refusals for reasons of personal beliefs. These can be beliefs of conscience, personal morality or religious expression, whether from organized or individual tenets. Multiple articles have been produced during the COVID-19 pandemic identifying willingness to receive COVAX or reasons for COVAX reluctance and refusal, but almost all data has been obtained from short-response surveys. Taking a departure from that, this study reviews the qualitative data from over 100 extensive interviews conducted with individual military members (from the US Air Force) who requested COVAX exemption. Their reasons given to refuse vaccination are also provided in a letter written by the member, regardless of rank, directly to the general at the top of their particular command. Examination of the reasons given provides unique insights into the thought processes of requestors. Regardless of the request’s outcome, this data demonstrates the administrative and policy importance placed by the US military on at least considering personal beliefs, even in a pandemic, and protecting individual freedoms, even of military members with curtailed rights. By far, disproportionate requests came from lower ranks with some mid-level leadership making formal requests to refuse the COVAX. In this sample, no top leadership requested exemptions. The analysis finds evidence for pressure exerted on members to not submit an exemption request. For those who did, the 111 requests were not a static or set doctrinal view. Arising from at least 29 distinct religious traditions, all requests showed signs of an emerging or developing sense of belief praxis in the face of new situations. Other dominant patterns also emerged. The study found critical objections to the use of fetal stem lines in developing available vaccines and concerns about potential vaccine side effects to the requestor’s body. Trust in the process and a sense of autonomy in participation also were found to be critically import to most requests.

Utilization of Weekly Lesson Plan Monitoring Tool for Enhancing Competencies of Science Teachers in Instructional Planning

The Diploma Education (DepEd) teacher performance measures must meet specific critical objectives. DepEd Order 42 (2017), requires seven domains and thirty-seven strands for teachers’ development. The criteria helps teachers learn. A teacher career’s advancement depends on performance. The Philippine Professional Standards for Teachers (PPST) aims to deliver quality basic education. Teachers planning domain-performance indicators teaching abilities include structuring progressive learning to meet course goals. Some teachers avoid the professional way of developing lesson ideas. This causes a “bandwagon effect” of teachers ignoring lesson planning and assigning repetitive tasks. The study worked on an indicator-based lesson plan evaluation method for science teachers. A weekly lesson plan (LP) monitoring tool was scheduled (WLPMT). The WLPMT evaluated the learning plans. The study applied quantitative research techniques. Excel’s statistical analysis tool analyzed the data. The researchers employed a contextualized developmental monitoring and assessment instrument for lesson plans, which included teacher lesson plan rate indicators. The goal of this study is to enhance science teachers instructional planning. The evaluated null hypothesis was not substantially different, the two-tailed t-test t value (0.67) was lower than the critical value (2.26) in the 1st (78.1, 9.30) and 2nd (81, 20.41) quarters. Their SD was higher than the 1st quarter, despite their higher mean score differential for the 2nd quarter. However, the results showed that the teacher’s instructional planning skills were still improving. The computed t-test for the 1st (78.1, 9.30) and 3rd (89.5, 9.10) quarters show a significant mean difference because the t value (4.45) exceeds the critical value (2.26). In the third quarter, teachers utilized lesson planning indicators to improve instructional planning. In the fourth quarter (86.4, 12.22), mean scores exceeded baseline. The 4th quarter has a bigger standard deviation than the 1st quarter, yet the t test statistics exceeds the critical point, indicating a large mean score difference. The study concluded that teachers who produce quality instructional plans may benefit from lesson plan scores.

Application of Sentiment Analysis to Prevent Cyberattacks on Objects of Critical Information Infrastructure

The article addresses the pressing issue of ensuring cyber security for critical information infrastructure, which is associated with the development of modern information technologies and the increased potential for cyber attacks from criminal groups and potential adversary state entities. An analysis of the scientific literature indicates the necessity of preventive measures and scientific research, which involve monitoring the cyberspace. The application of sentiment analysis is proposed to detect the emotional sentiment towards critical information infrastructure objects. Following a defined algorithm, a sentiment analysis model is constructed based on an artificial neural network using open-source Python programming language libraries. The model's distinguishing feature is the consideration of emoticons to determine the intensification of emotional attitudes towards conducting cyber attacks on critical information infrastructure objects. A dataset related to cyber attacks from social media platforms such as Twitter and Instagram is collected to train the neural network. The results of training and testing the neural network provide grounds to assert that the network's accuracy of 0.7852 is relatively high, enabling its application by cyber reconnaissance units for early detection of cyber threats to critical infrastructure objects in combination with other tools.

한국 고전 서사문학에 나타난 책방형(冊房型) 인물의 존재 양상과 특징

The 'Magistrate's Private Secretary(冊房)' is a position that does not fall under the official control (官制), and is privately filled by a village official. There are also documents recorded under the names of Chaekgaek(冊客) and Chaeksil(冊室). During the Joseon Dynasty, Ajeon was divided into “Kyung-ahjeon,”a lower-level official of the central government office, and “Oe-aJeon,”a lower-level official of the local government office, with Oe-ahjeon further divided into 'Hyangri (鄕吏)' and 'Gari (假吏). He was asked to cover for those who had served as former positions for generations for the province, and those who came from other provinces temporarily held former positions. However, Gari, who came in as a local officer and served as a kind of secretary while working on documents and accounting, was the magistrate's private secretary.
 A character reaches its epitome in the social relationship of a specific era. The special social relationship that the magistrate's private secretary was "a being in a subtle position as a private staff of the leader without having a government organizational position in the public space of Dongheon" is the background for discussing the model of a "Magistrate's Private Secretary," which encompasses Moknangcheong, Cho Nangcheong, and Lee Nangcheong. Since the character of a magistrate's private secretary is inextricably related to the leader, the shape in classical narrative literature also varies as per the structure of the relationship with the leader. Accordingly, it can be classified into various types, which are as follows. First, he is the "Magistrate's Private Secretary" character who is completely subordinated to the leader in adherence to a thorough hierarchical relationship, and his actions and actions arising from his subordination become the subject of ridicule and satire in the work. Second, although in a top-down relationship, he is the "Magistrate's Private Secretary," who forms a public relationship in relation to bribery, and he is the subject of criticism in the work, with the leader painted as a corrupt official. Third, although he is basically in a top-down relationship, it is the "Magistrate's Private Secretary" character that is less subordinate than the first type, and also contributes to making the leader an object of caricature or criticism in the work. Fourth, he, as the "Magistrate's Private Secretary," is embodying his own personality, regardless of the leader’s existence.

Kazakhstan’s Strategic Priorities in the Turkic World

With its unwavering focus on institutionalizing cooperation within the Turkic World, Kazakhstan has successfully achieved this critical objective. Looking ahead, Kazakhstan recognizes the strategic significance of its engagement with the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) member states, navigating the intricate balance of geopolitical challenges and opportunities. This commentary aims to provide an in-depth analysis of the evolving trends in cooperation and outline Kazakhstan’s strategic priorities in the short and medium term. The author suggests that Turkic nations are likely to collaborate in trade, transport, and high-tech ventures and tackle common issues, notably water resource management. This evidences the pivotal role of OTS in creating the essential geopolitical balance within Kazakhstan’s intricate web of institutional connections.

Analysis of terminology for identifying the risks of ensuring security and sustainability of critical information infrastructure in Ukraine

The article is devoted to the definition of the concept of risk in the context of ensuring safety and sustainability of critical information infrastructure in Ukraine. It has been specified that, in general, the risks, which may arise and affect critical information infrastructure objects of Ukraine, are a highly specialized subject matter of research searches. Therefore, there is no clear identification of the term «risk» in the context of the proposed public relations at the scientific level. It has been emphasized that the legislative doctrine also does not define its content and essence.
 The general theoretical and legal definition of the term «risk» has been analyzed. An attempt to differentiate its characteristics as a distinct legal phenomenon from related legal categories has been made.
 It has been summarized that the category of risk in the context of ensuring safety and sustainability of critical information infrastructure in Ukraine is a is a form of manifestation of danger caused by the presence of phenomena, factors, circumstances, events, etc., which can potentially have negative consequences on the course of public relations, functionality of objects or specific legally protected interests in this sphere. In addition, we have clarified that the category of threat should also be understood as a form of manifestation of danger, which is due to the presence of phenomena, factors, circumstances, events, etc., but only those that will damage safety and sustainability of critical information infrastructure in Ukraine in the future (in particular, if it is not neutralized, it will become a risk).
 It has been summarized that to ensure that potential risks in the field of critical information infrastructure protection do not become an actual problem, the State, in formulating its policy in this area, should clearly define, i.e. establish at the legislative level what is a risk to critical infrastructure in general and for information one – in particular. This is necessary to develop clear methodologies for monitoring and forecasting certain risks in the future to avoid their negative effects.

UKRAINIAN ALLUSIONS IN HISPANIC AMERICAN LITERATURE: FROM MAZEPA TO PUTIN

The article offers a brief overview of some works written in Latin American countries from the late 19th to the early 21st century, which contain references to Ukrainian realities, but have not hitherto become the object of literary criticism from this angle. This oversight is regrettably common to literary studies both on the Latin American and the Ukrainian side. Thus, three writers from Mexico, one from the Argentine and one from Nicaragua have never been examined from this point of view, wheras the literary presence of Ukraine in that area of the world lies outside the scope interest of Latin American scholarly research. The figure of the Ukrainian leader Stepán Mazepa, which appears in two poems – Trilogy and Lamentation of the Voluptuous – by the outstanding Mexican author Amado Nervo, parallels the way it is conceived of by several 19th-century European writers (including Victor Hugo), being treated in rather metaphysical terms, with as good as no regard for the Ukrainian national and historical context. The Jewish Gauchos, a novel by the Argentine writer Alberto Gerchunoff, includes some fond memories of the author’s childhood spent in Ukraine, as well as a condemnation of the oppression of the Jews by the Russian tsarism. Taking his hint from A. Gerchunoff, the prominent Nicaraguan poet Rubén Darío makes in his Canto a la Argentina a general mention of the Jews of the Russian Empire who were able to resettle in that country. A sophisticated investigation of some enigmas of the Second World War by the Mexican Ignacio Padilla led the author, in his detective novel Amphitryon, to an original appraisal of the Civil War in Russia, with sympathies expressed towards the Ukrainians’ aspirations for independence. The Mexican Jorge Zepeda Patterson, whose novel Milena or The most beautiful femur in the world bears a clear reference to the initial stage of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2014, seeks to unmask the deep secrets of the international sex racket mafia as one of the dirty faces of big politics, especially on the side of Russia.