Analysis of the antiterrorist awareness of undergraduate students of N.N. Burdenko VSMU

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Introduction. At the moment, the fight against terrorism is an urgent issue at the public and state level. This topic is widely covered in the media, the Internet and other sources, which subsequently scares people. All over the world, terrorism has acquired a phenomenon of large-scale action, which entails serious consequences.
Terrorism is the ideology of violence and the practice of influencing decision-making by state authorities, local governments or international organizations related to intimidation of the population and (or) other forms of illegal violent actions.Terrorist acts can include bombings, hostage-taking, assassinations, sabotage, cyberterrorism and other forms of violence. Terrorism is aimed at creating fear and panic among the population, destabilizing society, as well as putting pressure on Governments or other organizations to achieve their goals. Terrorist attacks are one of the main threats to global security and require international cooperation to counter it. [1].

The word "terror" comes from Latin and translates as "fear, horror". As a rule, terror is used to solve political problems. In such conflicts, the population is primarily at risk. Terrorists want to influence society and public opinion, to intimidate. Demoralization of the population and the state as a whole is carried out through the threat of violence or violence itself, which leads to the appearance of a different number of victims. The number of victims to terrorists is not as important as making the incident public. In terms of goals and objectives, terrorism can be mercantile, when attackers demand concessions and fulfillment of certain requirements, and apocalyptic, in turn, its purpose is to cause maximum damage to the object of a terrorist act. The main basis of terrorism is ideology, it can be political, religious, nationalist, state, criminal, ordinary, selfish.

Terrorism has already acquired an international, global character. In the 80s and 90s of the twentieth century, terrorism became a universal phenomenon. The globalization of terrorism is an undeniable fact that humanity is facing today. Modern terrorism consists of powerful structures equipped with equipment appropriate to their scale. Terrorists may try to use the media to spread their ideas or manipulate their target audience. Terrorists may also target national symbols to attract attention. Most often, the commanders of terrorist gangs are bright personalities who know how to control the opinions of hundreds of people. They deceive and mislead people to join their community. Commanders-in-chief inspire subordinates that only by force can one drink justice.[2].

But terrorism is not a way to resolve disagreements and problems, but only an obstacle to solving international, social, religious and other conflicts. Violence cannot fix the situation, but only increase the scale of the conflict.
At the moment, the topic of threats to human life and health due to terrorist acts is increasingly covered in news sources. As you know, after the Euromaidan and the coup in Ukraine in 2014, the ideology of an "aggressive Russia" began to be imposed on society. For these reasons, the West began to transfer huge arsenals of military equipment and weapons to Ukraine in order to prolong the war in the Donbas and provoke Russia. On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a special operation in Ukraine with the aim of "demilitarization and denazification" of Ukraine.The outbreak of hostilities led to human lives, worries and unrest of people, as well as terrorist acts, which began to occur more often. On June 24, 2023, a counter-terrorism operation regime was introduced in the Voronezh Region. This is a special regime in the territory where the state is fighting terrorism, with restrictions imposed: strengthening the protection of public order, infrastructure, important facilities, stopping dangerous industries, using vehicles of organizations and citizens to hospitalize victims or prosecute criminals, traffic restrictions, temporary eviction of people, control of information exchange, disconnection, verification documents, inspection at entry and exit from the zone of operation of the regime, unhindered entry of KTO employees into any premises.This is due to the fact that 131 terrorist acts were committed on the territory of the Russian Federation during the Special Military Operation, and 144 terrorist attacks were prevented during this period, according to Deputy Secretary of the Russian Security Council Yuri Kokov. This surge is caused by the activity of the Ukrainian special services and the work of their sabotage and intelligence groups. Their target is the civilian population and civilian facilities. The Ukrainian military uses unmanned aerial and naval vehicles, anti-personnel mines, as well as long-range missile and artillery systems to commit terrorist attacks. Over the past year, cases of drones hitting residential buildings, a bus explosion, as well as prevented terrorist acts have been recorded in the Voronezh Region.

As the investigation suggests, on June 6, 2023, "persons acting in the interests of the military and political leadership of Ukraine sent a drone equipped with an explosive device to Voronezh." As a result of a UAV hitting a residential building on Belinsky Street, two floors of the building were damaged, the roof of a private house next door, three people received shrapnel wounds. This action is an act of international terrorism.
In order to ensure public safety, the fight against terrorism is an important task, which requires joint international actions and forces. Terrorist activity is impossible without organization, planning, preparation, financing, implementation, and incitement. Since junior students are inexperienced, it is easier to inspire and influence their opinion than the adult population, so it is important to know their well-being in the current tense time, to monitor their position on this issue.

The purpose of the work is to conduct a survey among students, determine the level of interest in this issue, and find out students' suggestions on improving the level of security at the university.
Materials and methods of research. The report reveals the topic of terrorist attacks in Voronezh, examines the issue of the interest of students of Voronezh State Medical University named after N.N. Burdenko in the issue of terrorism, and assesses their knowledge in this matter.

A survey of 100 2nd year students of the medical, pediatric and dental faculties was conducted.
The first question for the questionnaire was asked: "How often do students think about terrorist acts?". And the majority of students (57%) replied that they do not think about terrorist threats, 39% think rarely, and 4% of students often. The data indicate that the social situation is stable. (Fig.1)

Almost all students (99%) believe that the issue of terrorism is relevant nowadays. This is primarily due to the unstable situation in the surrounding areas. Students use the Internet every day to read news about new attacks by Ukrainian troops on the civilian population of the LPR and DPR, this information increases anxiety and fear for their city. Of course, terrorism is one of the most dangerous phenomena of our time, which is becoming more and more widespread every year. Terrorism affects all spheres of life, it can happen everywhere.

The low level of awareness among students is mainly related to the platforms used to communicate on the Internet. A large amount of unverified or initially false information on social networks misleads young people and causes a complete misunderstanding of the real circumstances and problems. At the same time, despite the low level of interest of young people in studying official and reliable data, 73% of students are alarmed by news about terrorist attacks, the remaining 27% are not worried. Information about terrorist attacks is rare, but if such an event occurs, then students will be interested in this topic and concerned about the situation.

The majority (63%) of students assumed that terrorist attacks could occur in the Voronezh Region, the rest (37%) did not think about it. Students are aware that drones are shot down over the Voronezh Region almost every day. The Kiev regime is making terrorist attempts using aircraft-type UAVs against civilian targets. The aim is to intimidate and demoralize the population.

The correspondents asked the students to answer the question: "were students taught in schools/institutes about behavior during a terrorist act?". 74% were aware of the behavior in case of a threat of a terrorist act in an educational institution, 26% did not receive instructions for action during training. Next, the question was asked whether the respondents knew what to do in case of terrorist attacks. The majority (80%) of the students replied that they know how to act during a terrorist attack, the remaining 20% do not assume. Despite the fact that only 74% of students attended behavior training in educational institutions, another 6% learned about the order of behavior in terrorism from other sources.

Students were also asked questions to test their knowledge about what to do when an object similar to an explosive device is found, and 99% replied that they should not touch it, warn others, report the discovery to the police or any official. And with a hijacked vehicle, 96% of students will not attract the attention of terrorists. This survey showed that medical university students have the right model of behavior in the event of a threat.
More students feel safe at home (72%), at university 23%, on the street 5%. From their data, it can be concluded that students are safer and more comfortable at home in case of a terrorist attack. (Fig. 2).

The optimal time for the absence of an alarm for a terrorist attack is from 12:00 to 19:00. Most of the alarms occur in the morning, evening and night. We know from news sources that Ukrainian special services use UAVs at night to create the effect of surprise. After reading this information, students get the impression that there will be an attack at night.
The results of the study. Materials from articles and publications in news and newspapers were used to uncover the problem. The survey of students was conducted in electronic form.

After conducting a survey of students of medical, pediatric, and dental faculties, the importance of students' cautious attitude to the level of terrorist threat was clarified. Their awareness of the possibility of terrorist acts and actions in case of threat was clarified. It also became known how many students were instructed /rules in an emergency situation.
It turned out the personal attitude of the students and concern about the possibility of terrorist attacks, their awareness of the cases of terrorism that have already occurred, which were described in the media and news sources.

According to the statistics of the survey, most students have an idea about cases of terrorism, and almost all gave correct answers to questions about behavior and actions in the face of the threat of a terrorist attack. Students are thinking about the importance of personal and public safety in connection with the high level of threat of terrorism in the Voronezh region.
Conclusion on the proposal of students to increase the level of security at the university:
1. Strengthening security and supplying them with hand-held metal detectors and protective equipment.
2. The function of unlocking all turnstiles during evacuation.
3. Conducting briefings for students, improving the level of security competence, conducting training evacuations.
4. Careful monitoring and inspection of students and visitors of the university with suspicious objects and belongings.

Conclusion. In the above work, it was found out that the analysis of terrorist acts is an extremely urgent task in the modern world. Terrorism poses a serious threat to the security and stability of society, and its understanding and prevention are the priorities of Governments and international organizations. The assessment of terrorist acts makes it possible to identify the sources and motives of terrorist activities, as well as to develop effective strategies to prevent them. Thus, the analysis of terrorist acts is of great importance for ensuring the safety and protection of society. Terrorist attacks are crimes that are aimed at creating fear, panic and violating public safety. The fight against terrorism is a priority task of law enforcement agencies and government agencies. Appropriate measures are being taken to prevent and suppress such acts. [3].

About the authors

Lyudmila Vladimirovna Borodkina

Voronezh State Medical University named after N.N. Burdenko

Author for correspondence.
Email: mila_miller_03@mail.ru
ORCID iD: 0009-0009-2237-4891
ResearcherId: KAZ-9688-2024

Студент

Russian Federation, 394036, Russia, Voronezh, str. Studentskaya, 10

Ludmila Evgenievna Mehantieva

Voronezh State Medical University named after N.N. Burdenko

Email: rybina_02@inbox.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-2439-3625

Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor

Russian Federation, 10 Studencheskaya St., Voronezh, 394036, Russia.

Vladimir Pavlovich Ilyichev

Voronezh State Medical University named after N.N. Burdenko

Email: rybina_02@inbox.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0001-6683-257X

Associate Professor, PhD in Medicine

Russian Federation, 10 Studencheskaya St., Voronezh, 394036, Russia.

Yevgenia Vladimirovna Stanishevskaya

Voronezh State Medical University named after N.N. Burdenko

Email: medkat@vrngmu.ru

assistant

Russian Federation, 394036, Voronezh region, Voronezh, st. Student, d. 10.

References

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