Challenges to national defence in contemporary geopolitical situation

The paper examines the development of the ethical values of student soldiers preparing for service through university studies before the 2022 war in Ukraine and following the initiation of Russia's war against Ukraine in 2024. The research problem focused on verifying the hypothesis of whether Russia's aggression against Ukraine influenced a change in the ethical values of 280 respondents from several countries. The ethical values of soldiers preparing for service through studies at the University of Defence in the Czech Republic were analyzed. Furthermore, selected ethical values were analyzed among student soldiers from Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Austria, and Lithuania who completed a one-semester study stay at the University of Defence in the Czech Republic. Given the established research objectives, a quantitatively oriented empirical survey was employed. Data collection was conducted through questionnaire-based inquiries. The research indicates that ethical values gain significance during times of conflict and that there is no substantial difference in preferences among respondents from the selected countries.