Problem and relevance of the study. One of the most serious threats that modern society faces in the context of various forms of terrorism is terrorism associated with transport. The most vulnerable to terrorist attacks are places with a high concentration of people, including transport infrastructure. According to statistics, 70% of attacks are carried out through transportation or using vehicles [3].

As L.Yu. Taova emphasizes: The modern world is closely interconnected due to the development of transport and infrastructure, as well as high technology. Transport has become the basis for the functioning of civilization, a necessary condition for international relations. «Consequently, attacks on transport can lead to catastrophic consequences for the whole society» [10, p. 73].

It is important to emphasize that last year in Russia there was a sharp increase in terrorist crimes, the total number of which exceeded 3.7 thousand. These figures represent the highest level in the last eighteen years, according to information provided by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation. The crime report states that «from January to December 2024, 3,714 terrorist crimes and 1,719 extremist crimes were registered. These figures are 55.9% and 28.3% higher, respectively, than for the same period in 2023» [14].

Literature review. In addition to the regulatory framework, the study also examined many authors whose scientific works focused on terrorism and transport terrorism. Thus, E.S. Akhyadov, E.A. Kapitonova and G.B. Romanovsky, M.S. Perminova, N.N. Fedosheva presented their own concepts of terrorism. K.I. Popov examined the problem of using the armed forces of the Russian Federation in the context of a counter-terrorism operation to destroy terrorist threats, and presented his own solution to this problem. S.N. Fedorov examined the qualification of terrorism, identified the main problems of the disposition, and proposed his own solutions to the problems.

The purpose of the study. To establish the legal nature of terrorism on vehicles, as well as to identify possible problems of qualification of terrorism and other procedural issues.

The structure of the scientific article is presented by the introduction, which determines the relevance and problem of the study, the main part, containing such structural elements as the theoretical basis and hypothesis, methods, results, interpretation and discussion of the results, as well as the conclusion, consisting of conclusions on the topic of the study.

Theoretical basis and hypothesis. Based on paragraph 1 of Article 3 of the Federal Law «On Combating Terrorism», terrorism is the ideology of violence and the practice of influencing the decision-making of state authorities, public authorities of federal territories, local governments or international organizations associated with intimidation of the population and (or) other forms of illegal violent actions [2].

Some authors see the concept of terrorism in their own way and supplement it in every possible way. For example, Akhyadov Elman Said-Mokhmadovich believes that: Terrorism is a socially dangerous activity that threatens national or public security. This activity includes intimidation of citizens of the country, provocation of military conflicts, international tensions by any means established by both national and international legislation. «Terrorism aims to influence the decision-making of an international organization, public authorities and their officials, other organizations performing public functions, or to attract public attention to certain political, religious or other views of terrorist organizations» [4, p. 6]. E. A. Kapitonova and G. B. Romanovsky define terrorism as «the use of violence with the aim of influencing inviolable national and supranational institutions, which has led to innocent victims or the occurrence of socially dangerous consequences or creates a threat of their occurrence» [6, p. 154], which, in their opinion, reflects the most complete set of features that define this socially dangerous act as a specific crime, adequately reflecting its two key features: social harm and illegality. M. S. Perminova considers terrorism as «criminal activity, which consists in the use, threat of use or creation of conditions for the use of violence of a terrorist nature» [8, p. 404]. She interprets terrorist violence as violence that is aimed at and has the goal of intimidating the state, its population, as well as certain groups of the population, or violence consisting in the deliberate use of means that in turn are capable of creating a general threat to citizens, and for this reason has a threatening effect.

1. N. Fedosheva points out that terrorism is a «means of illegal confrontation or coercion» [11, p. 104]. In other words, it is a unique way of influencing the state, political forces, public authorities and their officials.

In fairness, it should be noted that terrorism has a broad classification depending on various criteria. This is due to the fact that such a phenomenon is complex and diverse. It can manifest itself in various forms. Many scientists, both Russian and foreign, working in various fields of law and political science, have put forward approaches to the classification of the concept of «terrorism».

Terrorism on transport vehicles is «a specially organized type of violence aimed at implementing an extremist ideology caused by extremely aggressive activities of organized entities, carried out from vehicles or in vehicles» [13, p. 31]. The key idea of ​​the current trends in terrorism is the methods and forms of use of transport by terrorists to implement their destructive plans.

The following categories of terrorism related to transport are distinguished, each of which has its own distinctive features:

— terrorism on railway transport,

— terrorism on air transport,

— automobile terrorism,

— terrorism on river transport facilities,

— maritime terrorism, terrorism of pipeline transport,

— terrorism in urban public transport (metro, bus and other types) [4, p. 52].

Speaking about the qualification of terrorism, it is necessary to mention Article 205 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. It is worth noting that the law does not fully establish the methods of committing a terrorist act, it only indicates what they are: an explosion, arson and other actions that can frighten the population, create a danger, and also cause property damage. Here the legislator emphasizes the impossibility of an exhaustive definition of all the methods of committing such a crime and creates a formulation that can generalize the characteristic methods of committing it. According to S. N. Fedorenko: Part 1, Article 205 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation contains an inaccuracy. Since the phrases “other actions” and “these actions” are used to describe a terrorist act, which imply an exclusively active form of activity. “Meanwhile, a terrorist act can sometimes be carried out by inaction, by failing to perform actions required to maintain public safety, for example, related to the timely shutdown of technological processes in transport” [12, p. 35]. In our opinion, it would be correct to use the concept of “act”, which, in turn, includes both active and passive forms of behavior.

At the moment, many problems are identified within the procedural field of investigation and qualification of terrorism in transport. For example, K.I. Popov focuses on the problem of lawful harm during counter-terrorism activities. The point is that, if necessary, harm may be caused to interests protected by criminal law by deliberately destroying aircraft and watercraft with people on board, and only if this action is forced. [9, p. 12]. In other words, in order to prevent a larger tragedy, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation have the right to cause death to passengers of a sea or aircraft, including hostages held by terrorists. The author himself notes that although such a social measure has its justifications, from the point of view of criminal law, it is considered controversial, since the current Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, namely Chapter 8, does not contain any circumstances that could exclude the criminal nature of this act [1]. In this regard, K.I. Popov proposes to amend the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (hereinafter referred to as the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), namely, to create Article 42.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which would regulate at the proper level within the legal framework the legitimacy of the use of counter-terrorism operations and determine the legality of causing harm to objects protected by the criminal law of the Russian Federation.

In our opinion, this is not necessary, since Article 42 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which states: «Causing harm to interests protected by criminal law by a person acting in execution of an order or instruction binding on him is not a crime» already provides for this circumstance, excluding the criminality of the act, since military personnel and other persons act within the framework of a counter-terrorism operation on the basis of an order and this does not require additional regulation. In our opinion, no less important is the problem of ensuring the safety of participants in the investigation of criminal cases of terrorism in transport, especially witnesses. As noted by Candidate of Legal Sciences I.P. Kravets: For a successful investigation of crimes classified as a terrorist act committed with the use of explosives, employees conducting the preliminary investigation must fully use all the opportunities and tools provided by the Criminal Procedure Code. For example, «not to include in the protocols of investigative actions data on the identity of participants subject to protection (Part 9 of Article 166 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation)» [7, p. 28]. It is impossible not to agree with this statement, in addition, it should be noted that terrorists and their accomplices, knowing the names of witnesses, can not only encroach on the life and health of these persons, but also influence the course of the investigation, depriving it of the necessary information.

Research methods. The methodological basis of this study was the analysis of sources and documents, comparison, logical reasoning, and critical analysis.

Results and interpretation. Within the framework of the work, the concept of terrorism and its types were studied. Particular attention was paid to transport terrorism. It was established that in legal science today, some problems related to issues of counteracting terrorism in transport are highlighted. An analysis of the positions of the authors was carried out, and a personal vision of the issue was expressed.

Discussion and conclusion. In conclusion, it should be noted that attacks by terrorists using vehicles as a weapon for their crimes pose a huge danger due to the possibility of causing mass casualties and causing colossal damage in the economic and social spheres. The study of this category of crimes demonstrates the complex interaction of political, social, economic and psychological factors that determine their occurrence and development. To effectively combat terrorist attacks on vehicles, a multidisciplinary approach is required that would unite the work of government agencies, law enforcement agencies and the entire civil society. The key point is continuous monitoring, adjustment and improvement of protective mechanisms to new and constantly changing threats, as well as work to improve methods and approaches in the fight against terrorism.