Social and legal significance of social protection of military servicemen in the context of providing social security of the state

The article is devoted to clarifying the socio-legal significance of social protection of military personnel through the prism of the modern concept of ensuring social security of the state. It is established that social protection of military personnel is an objectification of the social function of the state and society through their activities, which are aimed at implementing a system of guarantees (social, legal, economic, etc.) that ensure the protection of the constitutional rights and freedoms of military personnel in peacetime and in special periods, as well as meeting their material, spiritual and professional needs, taking into account the special nature of their duties, which involve increased risk to life and health, special psychophysiological loads, and at the same time - restrictions on their rights and freedoms, which must be compensated by social protection measures, contributing to a decent life of military personnel during service (to the extent that this can be practically achieved), as well as after the completion of military service. In view of this, the author emphasizes that the social protection of military personnel is characterized by a set of characteristic features, including the following: the presence of a special regulatory and legal basis for the mechanism of social protection of military personnel; institutional support and legal certainty of the conditions (also sufficient grounds) of social protection of military personnel guaranteed by the state; integrity and systematicity of social protection measures for military personnel, consistent with the goals and objectives of ensuring the social security of the state; accessibility, adaptability and flexibility of social protection measures for military personnel; coverage of social protection of military personnel of a special category of social risks, characterized by a preventive approach; preventive focus of social protection of military personnel; provision of social support to military personnel in the period after the completion of their military service. It is established that the socio-legal significance of social protection of military personnel in Ukraine in the context of ensuring the social security of the state is manifested in the following: firstly, social protection of military personnel plays an extremely important role in preventing and minimizing social risks that may arise as a result of military service and after its completion; secondly, social protection of military personnel prevents and counteracts the social exclusion of military personnel; thirdly, social protection of military personnel contributes to ensuring equal opportunities in society. It is also emphasized that social protection of military personnel is characterized by an indirect socio-legal impact on a number of other circumstances of reality that affect the social security of the modern state: firstly, support for the family and motherhood (fatherhood), which also contributes to demographic growth, supporting the birth rate in Ukraine; secondly, increasing the effectiveness of the functioning of the system of protection of socially vulnerable categories of the population, to which a military serviceman may be attributed (for example, persons of pre-retirement age, persons with special family responsibilities, persons with disabilities, etc.); thirdly, developing the socio-legal regime of social security of the state in general and the social security infrastructure in the state, in particular; fourthly, reducing the level of social tension.