Воєнні загрози для енергетичної інфраструктури: правові механізми захисту

The article considers the urgency of ensuring the security of energy facilities in Ukraine against various military dangers, such as armed conflicts, terrorist attacks, cyberattacks, and other manifestations of aggression that can significantly affect the stability of the state’s energy system and national security. Particular attention is focused on the role of legal instruments in ensuring the protection of critical infrastructure, especially energy enterprises, and identifying shortcomings in the current legislation that reduce the effectiveness of this protection. Energy infrastructure is one of the most important elements of a country’s critical infrastructure, and its protection is strategically important for ensuring economic and social stability. The article examines the main types of threats to energy facilities, including military, cyber, and terrorist. The article analyzes the impact of such threats on thefunctioning of the energy system and on the state’sability to effectively respond of using existing legalnorms. It reviews the legal tools aimed to ensure the protectingenergy infrastructure in Ukraine, focusing on theanalysis of administrative, legal acts and regulatory documents that determine the operation and defense of critical infrastructure, including energy facilities. Special attention is paid to the role of state authorities, such as the Ministry of Energy, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and other agencies, in ensuring the defense of energy facilities. Several problems have been identified, relating to the low level of coordination between state bodies and the lack of proper legal protection against cyber threats, which have become one of the most serious dangers to energy infrastructure in the current environment. The world experience of protecting energy facilities from military threats was also studied, analyzing international legal acts, such as the Geneva Conventions and other treaties that establish rules for protecting energy infrastructure during armed conflicts. The prospects for applying international approaches to improve national legislation are considered, including the practices of international organizations and other states, such as the USA and the EU. One of the key problems of the article is legal loopholes and the weak adaptation of the regulatory framework to modern threats, particularly cyber threats. The article focuses on the need to improve legal norms to the best respond to these challenges and ensure proper protection of energy infrastructure. Special attention is paid to the implementation of innovative legal approaches in the field of cybersecurity and interaction between public and private structures. It is proposed to create new regulatory documents that take into account contemporary risks and intensify cooperation to increase the effectiveness of energy facility protection. The article aims to strengthen the improvement of legal means of protecting energy infrastructure and strengthen the national security of Ukraine.