Analysis of the features of military conflicts of our time. The laws and principles of hybrid warfare are formulated as a new type of interstate confrontation. The leading role of the interaction factor in the strategy of military conflict is shown. A set of factors that determine the unique features of hybrid warfare is analyzed. The criticality factor in the theory of hybrid warfare is considered, the concept of "criticality nodes" is introduced, the role of the gray zone as an integrator of criticality nodes is shown.