The subject of this article is the process of collecting physical evidence (weapons, ammunition, explosive devices, debris, traces of explosions, biological traces, documents, etc.) in the specific conditions of active combat zones. The goal of the presented article is to develop, analyze, and improve the principles, methods, and organizational-tactical schemes for the effective, safe, and legally correct collection of physical evidence in the extreme conditions of modern warfare. The proposals developed in the article improve the efficiency, safety, and legal significance of the process of collecting physical evidence in modern conflicts, which is critically important for subsequent investigations of war crimes, establishing the truth, and ensuring justice. The object of study in this article is the system of practical measures, methods, and structures that ensure the identification, documentation, and seizure of this evidence in the extreme conditions of modern combat. The specialized investigative and operational groups (SOG) proposed by the author are the core of the organizational model presented within this object. The methodological basis of this scientific work consists of both general scientific theoretical research methods, including analysis, induction, deduction, analogy, generalization, comparison, and abstraction, as well as the identification and systematization of specific difficulties and risks of evidence collection in combat zones. The scientific novelty of the work lies in the development of a holistic institutional model of specialized investigative and operational groups, a fundamentally new approach for working directly in the active combat zone. Collecting physical evidence in combat zones is associated with unique, extremely high risks and difficulties that require special approaches, markedly different from peaceful conditions. Effective solutions to the problem are only possible through the creation of permanent, highly mobile, specialized investigative and operational groups adapted to work in combat zones. The establishment of such groups is not only feasible but also critically necessary to hold accountable those responsible for military and public criminal offenses committed in conflict zones and to maintain law and order under these conditions. This article may be of interest to investigative units, operational services working in conflict zones, and experts involved in field inspections or working with evidence from combat zones.
Denis Evgenevich Bulbachev (Sun,) studied this question.