2026 Issue №2

This article examines international approaches to the legal regulation of prison labour in light of the purposes of punishment, offender reintegration and human rights protection. The study aims to identify core regulatory models and assess their relevance to improving Russian penal policy. The methodology framework combines comparative legal analysis, formal doctrinal methods and elements of historical and systemic inquiry. A typology of foreign re­gulatory approaches is proposed and validated, duty-to-work frameworks, duty-to-participate regimes embedded in individual sentence plans and market-oriented arrangements involving cooperation with private actors. The legal clarity of the status of the working prisoner, occupational safety guarantees, fair remuneration, safeguards against exploitation and effective judicial oversight are highlighted as the key criteria for effective regulation. Recommendations are formulated for the further development of the domestic regulatory framework in light of international standards and comparative experience.

This article addresses the pressing issue of the lack of uniform definitions for key concepts in military robotics, which undermines the efficacy of traditional legal norms amidst rapid technological advancement. The aim of the study is to bridge this terminological lacuna by developing and substantiating doctrinal definitions for the core categories of ‘military robot’ and ‘military robotics’ in order to enhance the system of criminal law regulation. The methodological framework for this research comprises comparative legal analysis, which facilitates the comparison of national approaches and practices in the legal regulation of robotics, and the structural-functional method, which is employed to identify and systematise the essential characteristics of the phenomena under study. The analysis demonstrates the need for a clear conceptual distinction between these terms and proposes definitions for ‘military robot’ and ‘military robotics’. The principal conclusion of the study is that these definitions establish a conceptual foundation for the systematic modernisation of criminal liability institutions, including the criminalisation of new forms of unlawful conduct and the clarification of the subject of a crime and forms of guilt. Such an update of criminal law mechanisms is deemed an essential prerequisite for maintaining legal security and effectively countering the challenges posed by the technological transformation of warfare.

The second part of the article examines the tactical aspects of individual investigative actions and offers recommendations for tactical and forensic support for investigations of internet-facilitated crimes involving the illegal trafficking of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances. The contribution analyses the tactical aspects of verbal investigative actions, such as witness interviews, questioning of a suspect or accused person, on-site testimony verification and identification procedures, while offering recommendations for their optimisation. The findings of the study comprise a set of theoretical propositions and practical recommendations, which are expected to enhance the effectiveness of tactical and forensic support for this category of crimes in the framework of specific forensic methodology, as well as to serve as a basis for further research on similar issues within forensic science and related fields.

This study identifies limitations in both medical and criminal legislation, reflecting inconsistencies in law-making and law enforcement in this area. To this end, a comparative legal analysis is undertaken of Russian and international legislation governing induced abortion, clinical guidelines and recommendations issued by the World Health Organisation are exa­mined, and statistical data on therapeutic abortions and their consequences are analysed. It is argued that criminal-law regulation of induced abortion requires improvement in order to ensure the safety of medical abortion for women’s life and health and to maintain a balance between the interests of the woman and those of the developing foetus. A new version of Article 123 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is proposed, with possible measures to prevent illegal induced abortions outlined.

Medieval and Scandinavian studies generally date the Viking Age to 793—1066, a period during which belligerent Scandinavians played a dominant role in the political and socio-economic life of various states. However, recent interdisciplinary research on Scandinavian society during the Early Middle Ages has expanded these chro­nological boundaries. An understanding of the criteria underlying different research approaches allows the chronological period of Scandinavian activity to be defined more precisely. This article aims to determine the chro­nological boundaries of the Viking Age through an integrated historical and cultural studies approach. Within the historical approach, using historical-genetic and comparative-historical methods and content analysis and drawing on a range of international medieval sources, the study identifies the features constituting the concept of ‘Vikings’ during their period of activity. Within the cultural studies approach, sources from the Modern period are used to reveal attri­butes constructed much later by nineteenth-century Romantic cultural figures. Identifying the properties of the concept of ‘Vikings’ makes it possible to determine the criteria used to define the chronological boundaries of the era. Viking military invasions, sea robberies, piracy and paganism serve as markers of the most active phase of Viking conquests of 793—1066. Other properties include the development of trade, religion, written culture, and political and social institutions, bridging the concepts of ‘Vikings’ and ‘Scandinavians’. This perspective expands the chronological boundaries of the Viking Age, framing it as an era stretching from the early eighth to the sixteenth century in accordance with different scholarly approaches. The conclusion highlights the artificial nature of such historical-chronological constructs as the Viking Age and emphasises the need for a balanced differentiation or integration of two approaches to the concepts of ‘Vikings’ and ‘the Viking Age’.

This article examines the formation of the Bug-Holländers community in Polesia in the context of migration processes in Central and Eastern Europe. The Holländers were a special category of the farmer population of Royal Prussia and other regions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (Rzeczpospolita) who enjoyed a special social and legal status. In Belarusian Polesia, representatives of this category of farmer population were known as the Bug-Holländers. This contribution details the arrival of the Holländers in Royal Prussia in the 16th and early 17th centuries, focusing on their status. The reasons and conditions for the resettlement of Prussians to Polesia, namely the Brest-Litovsk Voivodeship of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, in the 17th century are highlighted in the context of the internal colonisation by the Holländer, with a chronological framework provided for the emergence of the Bug-Holländer community. The study identifies the role of the Protestant Count Raphael Leszczynski in the resettling the Holländers from the territory of Royal Prussia and analyses the text of the 1624 privilege bestowed on the settlers.

As a combination of personnel, weapons and equipment, the organisational structure of units and formations reflects their combat capability. This structure, laid down in documents such as organisation and equipment tables, reveals how the military leadership views a specific unit at a specific point in time. Rifle forces constituted the main part of the Red Army during the Great Patriotic War. Before the war, rifle forces consisted of rifle divisions consolidated into rifle corps of two or three divisions. Their organisational structure was reformed shorty before the war in response to the availability of new weapons the army and the experience of armed conflicts of the late 1930s. The unsuccessful start of the Great Patriotic War led to the rapid depletion of some military resources. This made it necessary to adapt the organisational structure of infantry to the requirements of the time in order to counter the German army in an adequate manner. This work aims to consider the main factors determining changes in the organisational structure of rifle forces from the beginning of the war until the end of 1941. Using historical-­genetic and historical-comparative methods, the article determines the main milestones in the development of the infantry organisational structure at the beginning of the war and identifies its main features. It is concluded that the problem of maintaining the combat readiness of rifle troops at the beginning of the war was extremely acute for the Soviet leadership, as manifested in a significant number of changes made during the first six months of the war.

This article explores the transformations of the contemporary world order through the prism of the Fourth World theory and the concept of a cosmopolitan order. The author analyses the evolution of the term ‘Fourth World’ alongside the development of postcolonial criticism. At the early stages, the term was employed primarily in the context of advocacy for indigenous rights, whereas contemporary interpretation views it as a tool to investigate structural inequality across all ethnic communities experiencing systemic discrimination. The study provides a detailed examination of the phenomenon of state-building, which frequently results in the destruction of
authentic cultural communities and triggers separatist movements along the historical boundaries of ethnic settlement. Special attention is dedicated to a critical treatment of the liberal ‘rules-based order’. The author interprets it as an American cosmopolitan ideology designed to undermine traditional Westphalian sovereignty and consolidate the global hegemony of the United States. Quantitative data from demographic projections are presented to illustrate population aging and large-scale migration flows in Europe. The author views these processes as eroding national identity and leading to an inevitable crisis of the classical concept of the nation-state. In conclusion, the article sketches the outlines of a future international reality. Instead of conventional nation-states, the emergence of a multi-layered and fragmented political space is anticipated, consisting of religious communities, ethnic theocracies, monarchical dynasties and informal alliances. The author compares this mosaic structure to the political map of pre-Columbian America, where a diverse array of regimes coexis­ted in a state of fruitful anarchic disorder.

This article seeks to explore how the sanctions measures imposed by the European Union have influenced, first, the level of political support for the ruling and opposition forces in the Baathist Syria and, second, the level of voter turnout in parliamentary and presidential elections. It also aims to identify possible dependencies, their causes and characteristics. The study employs the process-oriented approach. The primary method used is factor analysis, which enables the identification of hidden connections between the study variables through comparing changes in the level of sanctions pressure with the outcomes of every Syrian parliamentary and presidential election held between 2004 and 2024. After collecting the relevant data, a factor model was built and a regression analysis performed. The findings of this study indicate that, although sanctions can have an impact on the political dynamics in a targeted country, the nature of this relationship remains elusive. Perceived as an external threat, sanctions can elicit stronger support for ruling elites as manifested in rallying behind the leader.