PUBLIC DIPLOMACY WITHIN UKRAINE’S STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM AS A MECHANISM FOR STRENGTHENING PUBLIC TRUST IN THE DEFENSE FORCES OF UKRAINE

The article has substantiated the managerial role of public diplomacy within Ukraine's strategic communications system as a governance mechanism for the formation and strengthening of public trust in the Defense Forces of Ukraine in the context of contemporary warfare combining military, informational, and cognitive dimensions.Within the study, the place of public diplomacy in the system of nationallevel and military strategic communications has been identified and analyzed in relation to approaches enshrined in Ukraine's regulatory framework, strategic documents of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, and NATO doctrinal provisions, demonstrating that, despite differences in contexts and implementing actors, these approaches share a common trust-oriented outcome dimension.To systematize the research findings, a managerial approach has been applied based on the interconnection between communication instruments, mechanisms of influence, and trust-building effects.A generalized analytical table has been developed to enable a comparative assessment of contextual approaches to public diplomacy within the strategic communications system and to substantiate their trust-building dimension.Analytical and cyclical models of trust relations within the "society -Defense Forces of Ukraine" system have been developed, allowing trust to be conceptualized not only as a socio-psychological category but also as a managerial outcome of strategic communications and public diplomacy.It has been demonstrated that systematic and coordinated external communication has contributed to increasing the perception of the legitimacy of the actions of the Vda a perspektivy 1(56) 2026