AUDITING IN CONDITIONS OF MILITARY AND ECONOMIC INSTABILITY: THE UKRAINIAN CONTEXT

The article examines the role of audit as an essential instrument for ensuring the reliability of financial reporting, reducing information asymmetry, and maintaining the confidence of stakeholders under conditions of military and economic instability. Martial law, destruction and impairment of assets, business relocation, disruption of logistics chains, loss of access to primary documentation, and instability of energy supply have formed a fundamentally new risk-oriented environment for business operations. These factors directly affect the organization, planning, and methodological foundations of audit activities and significantly increase the level of uncertainty in which auditors must operate. Under such circumstances, traditional approaches to audit planning and performance require substantial reconsideration and adaptation to the realities of a highly unstable environment. The purpose of the article is to study the specific features of auditing activities in Ukraine under conditions of military and economic instability and to substantiate directions for improving audit procedures and professional judgment of auditors in response to contemporary crisis challenges. Achieving this objective necessitates a comprehensive analysis of the impact of military and economic factors on the structure of audit risk, the quality of audit services, and the ability of auditors to obtain sufficient and appropriate audit evidence. The methodological basis of the study comprises general scientific and special research methods, including analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction, comparative analysis, as well as systemic and risk-oriented approaches. The research is grounded in the provisions of International Standards on Auditing, the findings of domestic and foreign scholars, and analytical materials of international professional organizations in the field of auditing and assurance services. The results of the study indicate that under martial law all components of audit risk increase significantly, including inherent risk, control risk, and detection risk. This situation complicates the process of obtaining sufficient and appropriate audit evidence and increases the importance of alternative audit procedures. The growing role of professional judgment in assessing going concern assumptions, evaluating the adequacy of financial disclosures, and forming audit opinions is substantiated. It is also proven that auditors must enhance professional skepticism and apply flexible, adaptive audit techniques to respond effectively to elevated levels of uncertainty. The prospects for further research are associated with the development of crisis-oriented audit methodologies, improvement of approaches to assessing business continuity during wartime, and deeper integration of modern information technologies and digital tools into auditing practice in Ukraine under prolonged conditions of instability.