Criminal Law Protection as a Component of Environmental Security: A Modern Dimension

Ensuring a stable environmental situation and safety is an important task for many countries. And Ukraine is no exception. Prior to the full-scale invasion, active steps were being taken to improve the legal mechanisms for regulating the environmental and legal relations, including criminal law enforcement. The armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine made its own adjustments, not only bringing detrimental consequences for the entire population and threatening the existence of the statehood, but also halting the processes of improving the environmental situation. This is the reason for the relevance of this article, as the impact of hostilities on the environmental situation is difficult to assess given the number of weapons, vehicle exhausts, and the use of chemicals thattogether pollute water resources, soil, and air, as well as cause massive forest fires, destroy natural ecosystems, landscape and biodiversity and threaten nuclear safety. Thus, the purpose of the study is to analyze the state of modern environmental threats and their impact on ecosystems, citizens and public environmental interests, to study the existing legal framework for criminal liability for environmental offences and to identify priority areas for improving the situation with environmental safety and criminal law protection as its component. To achieve this purpose, the following methods of scientific knowledge were used: the method of system analysis, the method of synthesis, formal legal and dialectical methods, as well as methods of analysis of legal documents. As a result, scientifically significant conclusions were drawn on the issues outlined, and recommendations were made for potential improvement of the current environmental situation..