Legal and Organisational Framework of Police Operations in the Occupied Territories

Russia’s urgent military aggression against Ukraine is complicated by its non-compliance with international law on the customs of warfare. The current situation demonstrates the imperfection of the system of modern international relations and the need to update agreements regarding the requirements for the conduct of hostilities. Ignoring the latter leads to many victims of various types of offences. At the same time, there are no effective mechanisms to mitigate the risks of these problems. The study aims to analyse the current innovative legal framework of police service and combat activities in the occupied territories. The study’s main materials are the sectoral theoretical and methodological developments of domestic and foreign researchers, as well as official statistics. A number of scientific methods were used in the article’s research, including analysis and synthesis, structural and logical methods, theoretical generalisation, and comparison. The research substantiates that under conditions of occupation, the military administration must not only ensure the protection of the rights and freedoms of the local population but also actively safeguard those rights and freedoms. It has been established that, to date, the legal status of police officers who find themselves in temporarily uncontrolled Ukrainian territory has not been defined by national legislation. It is argued that it is impossible to regard all such officers as collaborators or traitors without exception; decisions must be made objectively on a case-by-case basis. At the same time, it has been proven that without adopting and regulating societal relations for the protection of citizens’ rights and freedoms at the international level, this issue cannot be resolved. The legal status of police officers in the context of their presence in temporarily occupied territory has been defined. Distinctions between related concepts have been clarified, potential action algorithms for police officers have been outlined, and the necessity of continuing to fulfil their duties in the protection of the civilian population has been emphasised. A significant aspect highlighted within the study is the regulation of the relations under investigation and adherence to those regulations by the parties involved in the conflict. In further scientific developments of the research issue, the development of innovative legal principles of service and combat activities of the police in the occupied territories in the context of active digital transformation is considered promising.