Baltic Journal of Economic Studies 327 Vol. 11 No. 4, 2025 This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution CC BY 4.0 1 Kharkiv National University of Internal Affairs, Ukraine (corresponding author) E-mail: davydenkoviacheslav@ukr.net ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-4091-3248 2 Odesa State University of Internal Affairs, Ukraine E-mail: vnp.odessa@gmail.com ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8133-6486 3 Odesa State University of Internal Affairs, Ukraine E-mail: 9939060@gmail.com ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0729-9079 DOI: https://doi.org/10.30525/2256-0742/2025-11-4-327-331 THE ROLE AND PLACE OF THE OPERATIONAL UNITS OF THE NATIONAL POLICE OF UKRAINE IN THE PROCESS OF PREVENTING ECONOMIC CRIME UNDER MARTIAL LAW IN UKRAINE Viacheslav Davydenko1, Vadym Pidhorodynskyi2, Oleg Bolgar3 Abstract. The purpose of the article is to study the role and place of operational units of the National Police of Ukraine in the process of preventing economic crime under martial law in Ukraine. The article notes that under martial law in Ukraine, the issue of preventing criminal offenses in the economic sphere is an urgent one. The operational units of the National Police of Ukraine play an important role in the implementation of this area. Based on the results of the study, it is established that the organizational basis for operational and investigative support of actions of the National Police of Ukraine under martial law is a specially developed action plan, and therefore the structure of the plan for operational and investigative support of actions of the National Police of Ukraine under special conditions should consist of three stages, namely: implementation of preparatory measures for possible actions of operational apparatuses under martial law; measures implemented during the most dynamic and difficult-to-predict period of the operational apparatuses' activities under martial law and including the final stage, which includes the organization of specialized groups of operatives and covert officers; improving the efficiency of filtration (including checkpoints) points; formation of additional investigative teams; and sending some covert officers to areas where people who have been evacuated from dangerous areas are concentrated; creation of operational positions in newly formed and seconded organizations; organization of analytical work. The analyzed statistical data showed that under martial law, certain aspects of operational and investigative activities in a particular situation often shift and change their priority. These peculiarities can be divided into those of a general nature, due to the very fact of the activities of the units of the National Police of Ukraine under martial law and the type of these conditions, and specific ones, depending on the functional area of the operational apparatus, and therefore the main areas of tasks of the operational apparatus and units of the National Police of Ukraine under martial law are: preventive; active and counteracting; final. Summarizing the above, it is worth noting that the optimal strategy of the operational units of the National Police of Ukraine in the process of preventing economic crime under martial law in Ukraine should include: long-term measures are long-term initiatives aimed at systematically reducing the level of crime under martial law in Ukraine; tactical measures are medium-term measures, the effectiveness of which is manifested within a few years; operational measures are short-term actions aimed at immediately reducing the level of crime under martial law in Ukraine and eliminating the most acute problems. The strategy of anti-crime impact of the operational units of the National Police of Ukraine in the process of preventing economic crime under martial law in Ukraine is a structural element of the overall crime prevention policy in the State. It is important to take into account at least two aspects: first, the impact of organizational, demographic, legal and other factors on the state and trends of crime; and second, the correlation of the dynamics and distribution of criminal offenses under the jurisdiction of the National Police of Ukraine by various parameters with the overall dynamics and structural characteristics of crime in the country. The analysis of the measures to prevent economic crime under martial law in Ukraine made it possible to identify and characterize in detail its three main levels: general social, special criminological and individual preventive. In the context of studying Baltic Journal of Economic Studies 328 Vol. 11 No. 4, 2025 the general social prevention of economic crime, it is proved that the formation of patriotism of servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other military formations is impossible without providing an appropriate set of state and social measures aimed at the consciousness and behavior of the personality of a future serviceman, the purpose of which is to form high civil, socio-psychological, moral, physical, military-professional and volitional qualities aimed at ensuring as a constitutional duty Within the framework of special criminological prevention of economic crime, the author substantiates and proves the need to establish mental health departments at the level of divisions and brigades, which should be headed by psychiatrists and include mental health officers (licensed psychologists and/or social workers with specialized education who have at least one year of experience in relevant medical institutions). Key words: economic crime, criminal offenses in the sphere of economy, crime prevention, National Police of Ukraine, operational and investigative activities, operational units, martial law. JEL Classification: K14, K30 1. Introduction The military-political situation related to the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia, and as a result, martial law introduced on February 24, 2022 by the Decree of the President of Ukraine No. 64/2022, became a significant destabilizing factor in public life, which was one of the reasons for the growth of economic crime in Ukraine. In 2022, the operational units of the National Police of Ukraine detected 112,354 criminal offenses against property, including: especially serious crimes – 4162, serious crimes – 127131, minor crimes – 16224, and criminal offenses – 129524. And 2650 criminal offenses in the field of economic activity. In 2023, the total number of criminal offenses against property detected by the operational units of the National Police of Ukraine amounted to 177,399, which is 36.7% higher than in the previous year, including: especially serious crimes – 2964, serious crimes – 78,453, minor crimes – 13838, and criminal offenses – 16929. And 2613 criminal offenses in the field of economic activity. In 2024, there was a decrease in the number of economic crimes committed. Of these, 131,494 were criminal offenses against property, including 4044 particularly serious crimes, 89741 serious crimes, 16059 minor crimes, and 21454 criminal offenses. And 2620 criminal offenses in the field of economic activity. The success of the National Police of Ukraine units in preventing economic crime under martial law in Ukraine largely depends on the level of their operational and investigative support, the essence of which is the comprehensive and maximum use of forces and means of operational apparatuses to obtain sufficiently complete and accurate information that ensures optimal and timely decisions on preventing and suppressing illegal acts, documenting criminal acts, releasing hostages, etc. 2. Literature review Given the extremely acute problem of updating, improving, changing, expanding the legislative framework for preventing economic crime by the operational units of the National Police of Ukraine, minimizing negative crime trends, neutralizing the causes and conditions of criminal offenses under martial law in Ukraine, as well as blocking the channels, sources, and opportunities for their production, an important area of activity to improve the functioning of the system is the theoretical development of the issues raised, and an integral contribution to ensuring Babanina V. V., Babenko A. M., Bondarev V. V., Bugaev V. O, M. Golovko, N. A. Dmytrenko, Navrotsky V. O., Nikolayenko T. B., Ovcharenko A. S., Panov M. I., Polehenka O. R., Popovich V. P., Reeva A. O., V. M. Stratonov, E. L. Streltsov, M. S. Turkot, M. I. Khavroniuk, S. O. Kharytonov, I. O. Khar, G. I. Changuli, V. V. Shablystyi, O. O. Shkuta, etc. The analysis of the scientific works of the above- mentioned scholars has shown that a rather small number of scientific works have been devoted to the problems of the place of the National Police of Ukraine as a subject of economic crime prevention, especially in the conditions of martial law in Ukraine. And the study of the role and place of operational units of the National Police of Ukraine in the process of preventing economic crime under martial law in Ukraine has not been studied at all. 3. Materials and Methods The study is based on the work of Ukrainian and foreign scholars on methodological approaches to understanding the problems of preventing economic crime under martial law in Ukraine. The study used general scientific and special methods, in particular: hermeneutic – for cognition and interpretation of the texts of scientific articles, monographic publications, educational materials, which contributed to the disclosure of the content of the problems raised; sociological – to clarify the positions and opinions of scientists and practitioners on the causes and conditions of economic crime; Baltic Journal of Economic Studies 329 Vol. 11 No. 4, 2025 dogmatic – to identify positive foreign experience in the field of economic crime prevention and statistical method – to process statistical indicators of economic crime (Shkuta, 2023). 4. Results and Discussion The analyzed statistical data showed that over the 3 years of operation of the operational units of the National Police of Ukraine under martial law in Ukraine, the number of their proceedings is characterized by wave-like indicators, which peaked in 2023 (Shkuta, 2023). The main tasks of the operational units of the National Police of Ukraine in the process of preventing economic crime under martial law in Ukraine include: – Establishing channels for obtaining operational information; – prevention, suppression and detection of criminal offenses; – detection and neutralization of organized and other criminal groups; – search for persons hiding from investigation and court or evading criminal punishment; – search for persons who have gone missing; – identification of unidentified corpses; – assistance in criminal proceedings, execution of sentences and compensation for damages; – identifying the causes and conditions that contributed to the commission of a criminal offense in order to eliminate them (Arkusha, 2019). Under martial law, certain aspects of operational and investigative activities in a particular situation are often shifted and their priority is changed. These peculiarities can be divided into those of a general nature, due to the very fact of the activity of the units of the National Police of Ukraine under martial law and the type of these conditions, and specific ones, depending on the functional area of the operational apparatus, and therefore the main areas of tasks of the operational apparatus and units of the National Police of Ukraine under martial law are: – preventive; – active counteraction; – finalizing (Bodnar, 2024). The first group includes all tasks that are subordinated to the main and primary goal – obtaining operationally relevant and reliable information that allows timely adoption or change of management decisions on the integrated use of all forces and means to prevent illegal actions at the stage of their inception. The second group consists of tasks that arise during the immediate emergence of an emergency situation and special conditions for the activities of the National Police of Ukraine. They mainly include: – preventing and suppressing criminal acts, identifying their organizers, documenting the illegal activities of these persons, instigators, documenting the illegal activities of these persons, and detaining them directly or with the help of interacting forces – studying the mood of the local population, the nature of the response to the actions of offenders and authorities, including units of the National Police of Ukraine. The third group of tasks is formed at the final stage of the development of the emergency situation and special Figure 1. Indicators of registered criminal offenses against property in proceedings conducted by the National Police in 2022-2024 0 20000 40000 60000 80000 100000 120000 140000 160000 180000 200000 2022 2023 2024 Baltic Journal of Economic Studies 330 Vol. 11 No. 4, 2025 conditions – during the localization and elimination of the consequences. These include: – solving criminal offenses, searching for and detaining criminals, identifying witnesses to the events that took place, identifying the instrument of crime, material evidence, etc; – prevention of recurrence of the unlawful acts that have been committed. The analysis of the above tasks gives grounds to assert that the main requirements for operational and investigative support of the National Police of Ukraine units under martial law are – mandatory – provides for unconditional organization of operational and investigative support of the activities of the units of the National Police of Ukraine in special conditions – regardless of the nature of the phenomenon caused by their occurrence. – planned – operational and investigative support in the event of special conditions cannot be carried out impromptu, but must be implemented according to plans developed in advance, based on a deep and comprehensive analysis of the operational and emergency situation. – Functionality – implies the mandatory preservation of the functions of this operational apparatus in the organization and implementation of operational and investigative support. – Comprehensiveness – means that the implementation of operational and investigative support should be carried out in close cooperation between operational apparatuses. All operational units and each operational officer should ensure maximum use of their capabilities to solve the tasks of operational and investigative support. – continuity and intensity – the continuity of operational and investigative support is of particular importance when the National Police of Ukraine operates under martial law. The scope of tasks of operational apparatuses that have to be solved in special conditions, as a rule, increases significantly, resulting in a sharp increase in the workload of operational staff. These circumstances, as well as the need for continuous operational and investigative support, require increased intensity of work of operatives, which is achieved through optimal organization of their work. – Sustainability of management – Sustainability of management of operational apparatuses ensures the effectiveness of operational and investigative support of the National Police of Ukraine units under martial law. Fulfillment of this requirement implies strict differentiation of official duties and powers of officials, increasing their personal responsibility for the assigned area of work while creating conditions for interchangeability (Mozghovyi, 2025). The organizational basis for operational and investigative support of the actions of the National Police of Ukraine under martial law is a specially developed action plan. Each operational unit develops its own measures to be included in the general plan of operational and investigative support. The development of such measures should be preceded by: – study, analysis (assessment) of the operational and emergency situation, which is developed through the operational service of the National Police of Ukraine; – forecasting possible changes in the operational and emergency situation in case of special conditions for the activities of the National Police of Ukraine; – clarifying the goals and objectives of operational units depending on the type of emergency situation and special conditions for the activities of the National Police of Ukraine (Leheza, 2025). Based on the foregoing, we can conclude that the structure of the plan for operational and investigative support of the actions of the National Police of Ukraine units in special conditions should consist of three stages: The first stage consists in taking preparatory measures for possible actions of operational apparatuses under martial law and should include: deployment of forces and means; identification of objects of operational development; selection, recruitment and deployment of covert agents; training of covert agents; establishment of reliable two-way communication between the operational staff and covert agents; organization of reliable, including secure, communication within the operational apparatuses; cantonment and logistical support of seconded units (Shkuta, 2022). The second stage includes measures that are implemented during the most dynamic and difficult- to-predict period of the operational apparatus' activity under martial law and includes: organization of the gathering of personnel upon an alarm signal; staffing and briefing of task forces; organization of emergency meetings with covert agents; establishment of communication with the rest of the covert agents; restoration of communication with the archived covert apparatus; verification of the reliability of the system of passing operational information (Shkuta, 2022). The third stage is the final one and in the context of martial law should include: organization of work of specialized groups of operatives and covert officers; improvement of the efficiency of filtration (including checkpoints) points; formation of additional investigative and operational groups; sending some covert officers to areas where persons who have been evacuated from dangerous areas are concentrated; creation of operational positions in newly formed and seconded organizations; organization of analytical work (Halunko, 2022). 5. Conclusions Summarizing the above, it is worth noting that the optimal strategy of the operational units of the National Police of Ukraine in the process of preventing Baltic Journal of Economic Studies 331 Vol. 11 No. 4, 2025 economic crime under martial law in Ukraine should include: 1) long-term measures are long-term initiatives aimed at systematically reducing the level of crime under martial law in Ukraine; 2) tactical measures are medium-term measures, the effectiveness of which is manifested within a few years; 3) operational measures are short-term actions aimed at immediately reducing the level of crime under martial law in Ukraine and eliminating the most acute problems. The strategy of anti-crime impact of the operational units of the National Police of Ukraine in the process of preventing economic crime under martial law in Ukraine is a structural element of the overall crime prevention policy in the State. It is important to take into account at least two aspects: first, the impact of organizational, demographic, legal and other factors on the state and trends of crime; and second, the correlation of the dynamics and distribution of criminal offenses under the jurisdiction of the National Police of Ukraine by various parameters with the overall dynamics and structural characteristics of crime in the country. The analysis of the measures to prevent economic crime under martial law in Ukraine made it possible to identify and characterize in detail its three main levels: general social, special criminological and individual preventive. In the context of studying the general social prevention of economic crime, it is proved that the formation of patriotism of servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other military formations is impossible without providing an appropriate set of state and social measures aimed at the consciousness and behavior of the personality of a future serviceman, the purpose of which is to form high civil, socio-psychological, moral, physical, military-professional and volitional qualities aimed at ensuring as a constitutional duty Within the framework of special criminological prevention of economic crime, the author substantiates and proves the need to establish mental health departments at the level of divisions and brigades, which should be headed by psychiatrists and include mental health officers (licensed psychologists and/or social workers with specialized education who have at least one year of experience in relevant medical institutions). 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Received on: 10th of August, 2025 Accepted on: 23th of September, 2025 Published on: 29th of October, 2025