Challenges in applying international humanitarian law in contemporary armed conflicts: the case of Russia's war against Ukraine

The aim of the article is to study the problems of applying international humanitarian law under the conditions of modern armed conflicts using the example of war in Ukraine. Methodology. Common and specific methods were applied during the research: logical, dialectical, analytical, method of critical analysis of scientific literature, legal and dogmatic, system and structural, statistical, normative and dogmatic, legal modelling approach. Research Results. It is stated that there is no definition of "hybrid war" in the IHL rules, and this situation does not correspond to the current circumstances. There are gaps in the international legal regulation of the status of civilians, who are guaranteed protection from the consequences of war. Besides, the violating state does not distinguish between the two legal statuses of persons - civilians and prisoners of war Summarization and treat both these groups of people as war prisoners. It is concluded that the war in Ukraine has exposed a number of problems of the application of IHL during modern armed conflicts.