Current Military Conflicts Research Articles

Modernisation of the personnel management system of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the context of the ongoing military conflict with Russia

Considering the ongoing military conflict with the Russian Federation, the modernisation of the personnel management system of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is of utmost significance. Effective training of new officers is becoming a strategic task to strengthen the country’s defence capability and ensure its national security. The purpose of this research is to thoroughly analyse and justify ways to modernise the personnel management system of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the context of the current military conflict, with a focus on improving the education and training of the new generation of officers. The research is based on a statistical analysis of data obtained through expert analysis and a survey of highly qualified professionals. The analysis demonstrated that the existing personnel management system of the Armed Forces of Ukraine requires significant modifications to respond to the current challenges of military operations. In particular, there is a need to introduce advanced teaching methods and use modern technologies in the training of officers. In addition, it is essential to improve the organisational structures that provide training for officers. It includes revision of programmes, adaptation to modern conflicts and implementation of international standards of military training. In addition, the psychological and social aspects of the design and development of the officer corps should be considered to ensure its stability and productivity in the long term. A special emphasis is placed on the need to introduce international experience and cooperation with partner countries, which may include the exchange of experience, and joint exercises and training programmes. The results obtained are essential for the development and implementation of strategic plans for the modernisation of the personnel management system of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which will help to increase the effectiveness of military activities and strengthen the country’s defence capabilities in the face of ever-growing security threats.

Physiological and radiological parameters predicting outcome from penetrating traumatic brain injury treated in the deployed military setting

IntroductionPenetrating traumatic brain injury (TBI) is the most common cause of death in current military conflicts, and results in significant morbidity in survivors. Identifying those physiological and radiological parameters associated...

Ukraine at War: Reflections on Popular Culture as a Geopolitical Battlespace

Drawing on my previous work on how Western cultural producers have constructed the post-Soviet realm, as well as the feedback loop of popular culture wherein the region’s (non-)state actors mould their images for consumption abroad, this article reflects on popular culture as mechanism of the Ukraine-Russia War (2022-present). The specific focus is on how the Russia’s full-scale invasion and Ukrainian defence of its territory exemplifies the current state of popular culture as a geopolitical battlespace. Following a brief overview of popular culture-world politics continuum, I delineate the pivotal role that social media memes play in the current military conflict via a case study of the Twitter/X feed of Ukrainian Memes Forces (UMF), which employs various forms of youth-oriented visual intertextuality and comedic pastiche to establish Ukraine as a ‘cool’ adaptable, non-ideological agent against an ‘uncool’ hidebound, ideological foe (Russia-Putin-USSR).

Children's right to play in times of war

AbstractThis paper discusses children's right to play and its bioethical importance for children affected by war. Against the background of the current military conflicts, it analyses physical, psychological, and institutional factors that limit children's right to play in a situation involving armed conflict. Considering that the lack of institutional support of play for children affected by war constitutes a failure to fulfil our societal and political obligation under Article 31 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, this paper analyses the understanding of play adopted in this legal instrument. In line with the distinctions made in the Convention, it discusses the importance of play for children's life and survival, for their health and well‐being, as well as for the recovery of trauma experienced by children affected by armed conflict. It thereby aims to contribute to the recognition and protection of this right on the grounds of bioethics and healthcare.

Experimental investigation on weak shock wave mitigation characteristics of flexible polyurethane foam and polyurea

In recent years, explosion shock wave has been considered as a signature injury of the current military conflicts. Although strong shock wave is lethal to the human body, weak shock wave can cause many more lasting consequences. To investigate the protection ability and characteristics of flexible materials and structures under weak shock wave loading, the blast wave produced by TNT explosive is loaded on the polyurethane foam with the density of 200.0 kg/m3 (F-200) and 400.0 kg/m3 (F-400), polyurea with the density of 1100.0 kg/m3 (P-1100) and structures composed of the two materials, which are intended for individual protection. Experimental results indicate that the shock wave is attenuated to weak pressure disturbance after interacting with the flexible materials which are not damaged. The shock wave protective capability of single-layer materials is dependent on their thickness, density and microscopic characteristics. The overpressure, maximum pressure rise rate and impulse of transmitted wave decrease exponentially with increase in sample thickness. For the same thickness, F-400 provides better protective capability than F-200 while P-1100 shows the best protective capability among the three materials. In this study, as the materials are not destroyed, F-200 with a thickness more than 10.0 mm, F-400 with a thickness more than 4.0 mm, and P-1100 with a thickness more than 1.0 mm can attenuate the overpressure amplitude more than 90.0%. Further, multi-layer flexible composites are designed. Different layer layouts of designed structures and layer thickness of the single-layer materials can affect the protective performance. Within the research range, the structure in which polyurea is placed on the impact side shows the optimal shock wave protective performance, and the thicknesses of polyurea and polyurethane foam are 1.0 mm and 4.0 mm respectively. The overpressure attenuation rate reached maximum value of 93.3% and impulse attenuation capacity of this structure are better than those of single-layer polyurea and polyurethane foam with higher areal density.

Radar signal waveform based on Costas and Walsh‐Hadamard codes as electronic counter‐countermeasure

AbstractBelligerent sides of current military conflicts are first and foremost counting on intelligence, air supremacy, and electromagnetic spectrum dominance. Actual concepts of conducting military operations can be characterised by the massive employment of air defence systems, radars, and electronic warfare systems. An approach is aimed to strengthen air‐defence potential by improving the resilience of pulse radar against electronic warfare threats, such as an electronic attack. To cope with the above‐mentioned situation, a radar intrapulse modulation was designed, where a combination of Costas codes and Walsh‐Hadamard codes is applied. Using a particular waveform together with the proposed model for radar signal processing results in increased resilience against an electronic attack, especially against repeater jamming methods. Furthermore, it is also possible to process radar echoes at low levels of Signal‐to‐Noise Ratio (SNR), which enhances radar electronic counter–countermeasure capability. The main scientific contribution of the paper is in the unique design of the Pulse Compression Filter for Combined Intrapulse Modulation (PCF‐CIM) and in its modelling. Based on the statistical evaluation of results, using the proposed radar waveform together with PCF‐CIM, it is possible to detect radar signals with combined intrapulse modulation in the case of SNR ≥ −14 dB with TPR ≥0.9999 and FPR ≤10−6, where SNR stands for Signal‐to‐Noise Ratio, TPR stands for True Positive Rate, and FPR stands for False Positive Rate.

Investigating Divergent Energy Policy Fundamentals: Warfare Assessment of Past Dependence on Russian Energy Raw Materials in Europe

The Russian invasion of Ukraine and the resulting warfare within direct proximity to the European Union (EU) have significantly changed the conditions of Europe’s energy policy. Consequently, the energy security agencies and governments have been deliberating over an energy trilemma: the problem of balancing affordability, security, and environmental considerations, with much greater ramifications than before the breakout of the current military conflict. The past structural similarities and differences of the EU member states’ dependence on Russian energy raw materials, and the factors that might have determined those differences, may be among the key drivers of future energy policy choices in Europe and the prospective paths of the European Green Deal (EGD). Historical convergence might encourage an EGD consensus, while divergent past patterns might not allow for such a single direction throughout the EU. The multifaceted research proposed in this paper, from descriptive statistics to multiple linear regression model analyses, identifies structural dissimilarities among the EU economies relating to their dependence on Russia. Key findings suggest that the past dependencies on Russian energy raw materials have not been similar across the EU countries, and have been associated with the economic size of the EU member states and their proximity to or remoteness from Russia. In this regard, economic size and distance from Russia may be significant determinants of certain dissimilarities. Some countries, especially Estonia, Lithuania, and Poland, have demonstrated a structurally different energy mix dependence on Russian fossil energy raw materials than countries more remote from Russia that boast a higher GDP per capita.

Availability and Quality of School Facilities as a Determinant of Local Economic Development: The Slovak Experience

The availability and quality of school facilities has long been a hot topic, not only at the level of self-government, but also in respect of the whole public administration within the context of Slovakia. COVID-19 and the current military conflict in Ukraine are jointly putting increased pressure on local self-governments as the founders of kindergartens and primary schools. Whether the availability and quality of school facilities is a determinant of local development is a question for which there are very few studies. The aim of this paper is to identify long-term satisfaction with the availability and quality of kindergartens and primary schools in the Červený Kameň microregion; this is understood in the context of these institutions serving as an important determinant of local development. In this paper, a qualitative evaluation (survey) of parents of students in the Čerevený Kameň microregion was conducted. In order to increase the objectivity of the obtained results, the survey was conducted two times with an interval of 7 years (2014 vs. 2021). Our results show that parents perceive the availability and quality in the same way even over a long period, but without confirmed statistically significant differences. At the same time, however, we found that satisfaction with the analyzed school facilities changed over time.

Макроэкономические шоки 2022 г. и суверенные фонды

In 2022, instead of getting back to pre-pandemic “new normal” the world entered into another period of severe economic and geopolitical turbulences. In terms of macroeconomics, the most evident and painful was the hike of hydrocarbons’ and food prices. This drove inflation rates to the levels not seen in recent 40 years. In attempts to cool down underlying inflationary pressures the monetary authorities of many countries had to stop the policies of quantitative easing (QE) and started to raise basic interest rates. In this environment the governments, businesses and families are facing massive debt problems. The main stock market indices crushed deeply and simultaneously in 2002 which meant substantial depreciation of assets. All these macroeconomic shocks seriously affected the performance of sovereign wealth funds which currently present a solid and increasingly influential group of global assets’ holders and managers. The steady growth of the value of their assets under management (AUM) was interrupted last year. According to preliminary analysis, the total losses of AUM can reach circa 1 Trillion US$. Just one fund – Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG) – reported a depreciation of its assets by as much as 165 Billion US$ as of end‑2022. This is an amount comparable to the GDP of a mid-size country, for instance Ukraine before current military conflict. However, for Norway’s GPFG and similar state-owned investors (SOIs) of other countries such losses were not critical. SWFs are, basically, “tolerant investors” with very long view on value creation and operational planning, so they easily absorb paper losses. Simultaneously, the huge SWFs of oil and gas exporting Gulf countries enjoyed the hike of hydrocarbons’ international prices and hurried up to invest massive influx of unexpected revenues into depreciated assets in troubled economies of the USA and Europe. More countries tended to expand the mandates of their sovereign funds beyond traditional stabilization and saving functions. Strategic development funds became increasingly demanded by the governments and may appear even at the supranational level (the projected European Sovereignty Fund). So far, it may be concluded that in general macroeconomic shocks of 2002 did not undermine the positions of SWFs as strong and resource-rich global investors. On the contrary, it looks like that their role as an efficient tool of governmental policies of offsetting and preventing multiple market failures is getting to be further strengthened in upcoming harsh times.

Modernizing Personnel Management in the Armed Forces of Ukraine During Military Conflict: Training New Officers

Considering the ongoing military conflict with the Russian Federation, the modernization of the personnel management system of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is of utmost significance. Effective training of new officers is becoming a strategic task to strengthen the country’s defense capability and ensure national security. This research aims to thoroughly analyze and justify ways to modernize the personnel management system of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the context of the current military conflict, focusing on improving the education and training of the new generation of officers. It is based on a statistical analysis of data obtained through expert analysis and a survey of highly qualified professionals. The study demonstrated that the existing personnel management system of the Armed Forces of Ukraine requires significant modifications to respond to the current challenges of military operations. In particular, there is a need to introduce advanced teaching methods and use modern technologies in training officers. Additionally, improving the organizational structures that provide officer training is essential. This includes revising programs, adapting to modern conflicts, and implementing international training standards. Psychological and social aspects of the officer corps' design and development should be considered to ensure long-term stability and productivity. Special emphasis is placed on introducing international experience and cooperation with partner countries, exchange of experiences, joint exercises, and training programs.

Nove perspektive u pogledu borbene upotrebe komercijalnih dronova u kontekstu rusko-ukrajinskog sukoba

The use of combat drones is gaining momentum. In recent years, the phenomenon of the use of commercial drones for the realization of military tasks increased signifificance. The aim of this paper is to provide an answer to the possible directions of further use of this technology, as well as to the effects and dimensions of the existing application, by analyzing the current military conflict in Ukraine as a lesson for the defence system of the Republic of Serbia. Possible dimensions of the application of commercial drones in local conflicts are analyzed through a situational SWOT analysis. The derived conclusion provides a realistic picture of the position reached through the analysis and gives a view of dimension of its use from two opposite angles.

Rats’ thyroid gland histological and ultrastructural changes 30 days after the experimental thermal injury on the background of NaCl injection

Very frequent natural and man-made disasters as well as current military conflicts are accompanied by injuries complicated by acute blood loss, burns and shock of different degrees of severity. Thermal injuries are one of the world modern medicine most urgent medical and social problems including the same in Ukraine. In response to a burn injury a significant number of pathological processes develop in the body which manifestation involves almost all organs and systems, leading to an expressed homeostasis disturbance and adaptative processes disorder. Thyroid gland is the one of the first which receives the alterative influence in conditions of both threshold and suprathreshold thermal exposure. The purpose of the work is to establish histological and ultrastructural changes in the thyroid gland of experimental animals 30 days after thermal skin injury. Experimental studies were conducted on 90 white male rats. Skin thermal burns were simulated using four copper plates application to previously depilated lateral surfaces of the rats’ body for 10 s. Rats were injected with a 0.9 % saline into the vena cava inferior during the first 7 days of the post-burn period. Thyroid gland pieces were fixed in a 10 % neutral formalin solution, dehydrated in alcohols of increasing concentration and embedded in paraffin blocks. The prepared sections of 5-6 μm thickness were stained with hematoxylin-eosin. In the rats’ thyroid gland the presence of complex changes of a destructive, adaptive-compensatory and regenerative nature was established on the 30th day after a skin burn against the background of 0.9 % NaCl administration. These changes indicate a relative organs hemodynamics normalization together with the structure of various diameters vessels walls which creates the basis for the follicular cells typical structure restoration and new follicles synthesis. The expressed osmiophily and thyrocyte nuclei pyknotization, cytoplasm vacuolization and follicle’s lumen cells desquamation are revealed in the gland parenchyma. These are signs of the organ fibrosis which are supported by connective tissue amount in the stromal component increase. The thyroid gland parenchyma and the vessels surrounding it micro- and ultrastructural changes caused by the thermal altering influence have a time-dependent expression which transforms from predominantly destructive to predominantly restorative throughout the 30-day post-burn period. The authors are sure that the detected morphological changes of the gland have a time-dependent reversibility which is important to consider from both the time-course and the quantitative aspects taking into account the pathogenetically based scheme of pharmacocorrection. The 30th day of the post-burn pathological process manifestation characterizes by a certain imbalance in the compensatory, restorative and synthetic processes manifestation as well as in the destructive and decompensatory processes manifestation which gives reason to hope for the thyroid gland functioning restoration together with organs and systems in case of pathogenetically determined pharmacological treatment administration. Taking into account the thyroid gland morpho-functional changes wave-like dynamics the authors believe that sanogenetic mechanisms activation might occurs which will allow to prescribe the complex pathogenetically determined correction assuming the above-mentioned patho- and sanogenetic mechanisms dynamics.

Tourism industry in a ‘new reality’ and regional development opportunities: the case of Russia

ABSTRACT The COVID-19-related crisis had a strong negative effect on the world tourism industry, as has the current military conflict in Ukraine. However, with crises come opportunities as this research shows in the case of the Russian tourism industry. The 2020 crisis created the preconditions and opportunities to change the tourism industry’s historically distorted outward-oriented structure and promote regional development through domestic tourism. Active communications between the government and business during the pandemic helped reduce uncertainty for firms and design and implement appropriate governmental sectoral policies. The demand for such policies increased after large-scale international sanctions imposed on Russia in 2022. However, the allocation of large federal budget financial resources to support the industry also creates risks of opportunistic behaviour. The tourism industry’s development in Russia will depend on the government’s ability to resist pressure from rent-seeking interest groups.

TURKISH INTERVENTION IN SYRIA AND GEOSTRATEGIC IMPLICATIONS ON THE EUROPEAN UNION

Operation "Peace Spring" is an event of major importance in understanding the relationship between Turkey and Syria, the future relations between the two states and the European and international community.Turkey's design of a security zone has created stability for the state in question and destabilized the entire region at the societal level. Thus, the instability generated is a vulnerability for European and international security, and can be exploited by countries that oppose the democratization process or countries that have political andfinancial interests in that area. In today's society, disinformation is a real risk, being a measure implemented by many state and non-state actors in order to achieve security objectives. The phenomenon is also present in the current case study, playing an important role in the evolution of regional instability. The implications for the European Union security stem from soft-power influences in the collective minds of imperialist states that threaten the continent, the continued disinformation of policymakers, and the influence of decision-making indemocratic states. The Operation set a precedent for the current military conflicts in the vicinity of Romania, being visible the intention of the Russian Federation to create a "safety zone", following the recent expansion of democratic and societal values.

The Visegrád Countries against the Background of the Russian−Ukrainian Conflict

An attempt is made to analyze the origins of the attitude of Central European countries to the current military conflict in Ukraine, as well as their historical fears and concerns that broke out against the background of Moscow’s proposals to return the European security system to the contours of 1997, which preceded the armed invasion on February 24, 2022. It was historical memory that largely formed the knowingly predictable position of these countries in the conflict and their unconditional support of the Ukrainian side. According to the author, the conflict overall contributed to the pro-Atlantic consolidation of the Central European region, deepened the gap in relations with Russia, and produced new nuances in relations within the Visegrád region. Nevertheless, the understanding of the importance of regional solidarity, strengthened over 30 years of democratic development, keeps the Visegrád Group countries together, preventing them from falling victim one by one to any of the modern geopolitical poles. In defining the events, particularly the essence of the military conflict in Ukraine, the author adheres to the terminology used in the political space of the region under analysis, which allows her to remain objective in describing what is happening.

European Union needs urgent strategy for the European bison

The status of the European bison in the nearest future is extremely uncertain in result of Russia's aggression against Ukraine. Currently, over half of the whole European bison population (50.4%), and almost two-thirds of free ranging population (61.8%) is located in countries directly and indirectly involved in this military conflict, that is, Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus (Raczyński, 2022). Recent reports indicate a likely major economic crisis in Belarus and Russia caused by economic sanctions (Harrison, 2022; Kłysiński, 2022), and in Ukraine due to infrastructure and economy destruction (Washington Post, 2022). The magnitude of the economic crisis is difficult to estimate however, due to the ongoing conflict, which will probably continue at least until the end of the year. As shown by the experience from previous years, the economic crisis may significantly affect the development of the European bison population. Such a decline was recorded in the 1990s after the collapse of the USSR, when the population declined almost 17% between 1991 and 1998 (Pucek, 2004). This decline mainly occurred in the former USSR countries in result of poaching and general lack of governmental control (Pucek, 2004; Olech and Perzanowski, 2022). Currently, there are 2,758 free ranging European bison in the European Union (EU), 80.6% of which are located in Poland (2223 ind.); however, only in Lithuania and Romania, there are more than 100 animals in free ranging populations (256 and 181 ind., respectively). In other countries, such as Latvia, Germany, Slovakia, and Bulgaria, European free ranging populations of this species are sparse (98 ind. in total) (Raczyński, 2022). The future of the European bison population in Poland is also uncertain due to threats of diseases, for example, telaziosis, which may cause a significant decrease in the population numbers in Bieszczady (Demiaszkiewicz et al., 2020), the largest population of Lowland-Caucasian line in Europe. In addition, some of populations are overcrowded, which increases the risk of disease transmission and exposes the European bison to other threats like intensified migration toward agriculture and build up areas. Similar problems are observed in Lithuania. Isolation of European bison populations in Russia creates a risk of future improper management decisions, considering facts of already performed: introduction of hybrids with American bison to Caucasus and establishment of free ranging herd of Bison bonasus athabascae in Siberia (Sipko et al., 2010; WWF, 2017). Considering the above, there is a high risk of a decline of the European bison population and the loss of its current status, which would be a waste of 20 years of intensive conservation measures. For this reason, we call for immediate action to develop a strategy for the European bison conservation at the EU level. The strategy should include a plan for the resettlement of animals among EU member states to form new free-roaming or semifree populations. Currently, five populations in Poland (Białowieska, Knyszyńska and Borecka Forests, Bieszczady, and Zachodniopomorskie) and one in Lithuania (form Panevėžys and Kdainiai districts) can play a role as a source population. Potentially also the semifree and captive populations in western Europe could enrich the newly established herds. The strategy should also include legislative simplification of rules for the European bison transportation and the unification of the legal status of this species in the member states. In addition, stable, structural financial support should be planned to minimize the conflict with the local communities through environmental subsidies. Such protection is the only effective way to ensure the further development of this species population in Europe and to allow minimizing threats coming from the current military conflict and its subsequent economic consequences. We believe that failure to act now, when the population in Poland is still large enough to be further a source for new restitution projects, may squander about 100 years of joint efforts of European countries to rescue the species from the brink of extinction and so far, achieved spectacular results of its restitution. The loss of that species, being such emblematic for nature conservation, would be an inexcusable error. Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no new data were created or analyzed in this study.

Connectivity Between Russian Information Sources and Extremist Communities Across Social Media Platforms

The current military conflict between Russia and Ukraine is accompanied by disinformation and propaganda within the digital ecosystem of social media platforms and online news sources. One month prior to the conflict's February 2022 start, a Special Report by the U.S. Department of State had already highlighted concern about the extent to which Kremlin-funded media were feeding the online disinformation and propaganda ecosystem. Here we address a closely related issue: how Russian information sources feed into online extremist communities. Specifically, we present a preliminary study of how the sector of the online ecosystem involving extremist communities interconnects within and across social media platforms, and how it connects into such official information sources. Our focus here is on Russian domains, European Nationalists, and American White Supremacists. Though necessarily very limited in scope, our study goes beyond many existing works that focus on Twitter, by instead considering platforms such as VKontakte, Telegram, and Gab. Our findings can help shed light on the scope and impact of state-sponsored foreign influence operations. Our study also highlights the need to develop a detailed map of the full multi-platform ecosystem in order to better inform discussions aimed at countering violent extremism.

Trends in Current Military Conflicts Operational Environments

Abstract Current and future military confrontations require adaptive forces, moving rapidly from specific, lethal and high-intensity combat operations to stabilization and reconstruction operations or, conversely, from stability operations to kinetic ones. In fact, many times, military actions will take place simultaneously, at several levels of intensity and along the spectrum of the conflict. Thus, this article presents aspects that show that the current operational environment is the space of “military competition”, which will be marked by confrontations in a gray area, between “war and peace”, and in this area the military forces must have the necessary capabilities to carry out several and various types of missions.

도약적 국가 우주력 발전을 선도할 제 2 우주센터 구축 필요성 연구

Witnessing current military conflicts in South China Sea and Eastern Europe, most defense analysts evaluate one of the most serious security threat toward the US is coming from the superpower competitions with Russia and China. The main means for such super power hegemonic competitions is military power and space power is a key enabler to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of military employment. Reflecting above circumstances, the space hegemonic competition between the Unites States and China is spreading into all aspects of national powers. Under such an environment, R.O.K needs to significantly develop national space power to preserve life and assets of people in space. On the other hand, the R.O.K has a lot of limitations in launching space assets into orbits by land-based space rockets due to its geographic locations. The limitation of rocket launching direction, the failure to secure a significant area enough to secure safety and the limitation to secure open area enough to build associated facilities are among them. On this paper, I will suggest the need to build the 2nd space rocket launching site after analyzing a lot of short-falls the current

PERCEPTION OF THE FUTURE AS A FACTOR OF UKRAINIAN YOUTH’S MIGRATORY INTENTIONS DURING THE WAR CONFLICT

The article studies the ideas about one’s own future and the future of the country as a factor of Ukrainian youth’s migratory intentions. The number of migrants is constantly increasing year by year, and, given the difficult situation in Ukraine, a trend toward decrease is not expected. Since an image of the future is closely related to the goal-setting, expectations, desires, a person’s ideas about the past and the future, it is reflected in decisions taken by each individual, which are linked with the formation of migratory intentions in our study. The study was carried out with the following methods: associative experiment, bipolar semantic differential and surveys. The sample included three groups: group 1 - migrants living outside Ukraine; group 2 - people planning to leave Ukraine within a year; group 3 - those who planned to stay in Ukraine. The results of the associative experiment showed that one’s own future, on the one hand, was perceived as happy, in family, close to nature, with development and recreation, prosperous, successful, stable, active, promising; on the other hand, it was described as unknown, uncontrolled, alarming. The future of Ukraine, on the one hand, was perceived as hopeless, full of obstacles, trials and anxieties, fears associated with the continued war, poverty and misfortune; on the other, it was described as cohesive, happy, pure, changed, peaceful, united, full of power and hopes for the better life, independent, rich, prosperous and generally optimistic. The results obtained by the method of the semantic differential were analysed to form the factor structure; the image of “My future” consisted of seven factors: “Optimism”, “Dynamics”, “Prosperity”, “Social Norms”, “Stability”, “Life in Nature”, “Predictability". The factor structure of the image of “The future of Ukraine” consisted of four factors: “Successful Country”, “United People”, “Light-heartedness”, “Desired Topical Changes”. Differences between groups as for the perception of their own future were found for the scales: “dependent - independent”, “simple - complex”, “traditional - unusual”, “confident - uncertain”, “specific - abstract”, “healthy - morbid”; as for the perception of the future of Ukraine, differences were determined for the scales: “happy - unhappy”, “full of power - tired”, “rapid - gradual”," “free - dependent”, “promising - hopeless”, “near - distant”, “in development - stagnating”, “integrated - separated”. As for compared ranking in the perception of the images “My future” and “The future of Ukraine”, there were no statistically significant differences between the groups, but there were differences as tendencies for such factors as “Dynamics”, “Stability”, “Life in Nature”, “Predictability”; “Successful country”, “People in cohesion”. The future of Ukraine was perceived by young people with taking into account several aspects: economic development, prospects, wealth, strength; social aspect (including people, their cohesion and ability to act together); emotional aspect (giving preference to serenity and easiness, peace and stability, which together created a sense of security); time aspect that aimed at the near future and desired changes. The overall picture was also depicted in the positive characteristics. One’s own future was perceives more distinctive than the future of Ukraine, which was simplified. Some characteristics were similar; both images had: optimistic successful vision, the desire for confidence and stability. However, the perception of one’s own future included the factor of dynamics, but the factor of stability was absent, which showed understanding by the respondents the need for development; and there was not any factor of changes in the near future, rather the distant future was perceived, for example, family. As for the future of Ukraine, the time factor could be provoked by the current military conflict.