The armed forces of ukraine

Lesson 3

The armed forces of ukraine

1.	Try to answer these questions before reading the text

1. What do you understand by the term “armed forces”?

2. What do you know about the organization of the armed forces?

3. What are the tasks of the armed forces?

4. What do you know about the Armed Forces of Ukraine?

2.

In this exercise we’ll concentrate on the words and word combinations to be sure you know what they mean

armed forces – the military forces of a nation or nations, including the army, navy, air force, marines, etc;

defence – resistance against danger, attack, or harm; protection;

sovereignty – supreme and unrestricted power, as of a state; an independent state;

integrity – the state of being whole and not divided;

inviolable – that must be respected and not attacked or destroyed;

compatibility – the ability of people to work together without problems;

instability - lack of stability or steadiness

security – the activities involved in protecting a country, building or person against attack, danger, etc.;

diplomacy – the conduct of the relations of one state with another by peaceful means;

peacemaking – the maintenance of peace, esp. the prevention of further fighting between hostile forces in an area

natural disaster – an unexpected event, such as a flood or a fire, that kills a lot of people or causes a lot of damage;

terrorism – the use of violent action in order to achieve political aims or to force a government to act;

weapons of mass destruction - nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons that can cause indiscriminate death or injury on a large scale (Abbreviation: WMD).

3.

Read the text and translate into Ukrainian

The armed forces of ukraine

Proceeding from national interests of Ukraine, the principle task of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is to ensure (jointly with other institutes of the state) the defence of Ukraine, to protect its sovereignty, territorial integrity and the inviolability of its borders. This extremely important national interest can be ensured through the establishment of the modern armed forces capable to fulfil the designated tasks and be interoperable enough to act effectively within international formations, including the NATO ones. Accordingly the Armed Forces of Ukraine should be able to act as a part of multinational formations, to have the necessary level of mutual compatibility and to correspond with NATO standards.

Instability and regional conflicts can have a negative impact on the interests of the national security of Ukraine. That is why the Armed Forces should be able to contribute to the formation of international peace and stability through military cooperation as a part of preventive diplomacy, participation in peacemaking and humanitarian operations, multinational operations to regulate crisis situations, including operations to establish peace.

The Armed Forces of Ukraine should be ready to support the relevant authorities and to contribute to the liquidation of natural disasters and man caused catastrophes.

At the same time the Armed Forces of Ukraine should have opportunities to support the relevant law enforcement authorities in their activities with respect to reacting effectively to risks and threats of a non war nature, viz. international terrorism, illegal trade in arms and the spreading of missile technologies, nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction, uncontrolled migration, religious and ethnic extremism, other negative phenomena inside the state.

4.	Answer the questions

1. What is the principle task of the Armed Forces of Ukraine?

2. Why is it important for the Armed Forces of Ukraine to have high level of mutual compatibility?

3. Why the Armed Forces of Ukraine should be able to act as a part of multinational formations?

4. What are possible threats for national security of Ukraine?

5. What are the contributions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to the formation of international peace?

6. What risks and threats of a non war nature do you know?

7. How do you understand the meaning of the word interoperability?

5.	Complete the speech bubbles

1. This extremely important national interest can be ensured through the ____________ of the modern armed forces capable to fulfil the _______________ and be ___________ enough to act effectively within ___________________________, including the NATO ones.

2. At the same time the Armed Forces of Ukraine should have opportunities to support the relevant ________________________ in their activities with respect to reacting effectively to __________________ of a non war nature, viz. ________________, illegal trade in arms and the spreading of ___________________, nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction, _________________, religious and ethnic extremism, other negative phenomena inside the state.

3. The Armed Forces should be able to ____________ to the formation of _________________ and stability through ________________ as a part of _________________, participation in _______________ and _____________ operations.

6.



Discuss these questions in pairs or small groups

1. What are advantages and disadvantages of powerful armed forces?

2. How can you characterize the Armed Forces of Ukraine?

3. What do you know about military cooperation of Ukraine?

4. Is it necessary for military personnel to take part in peacemaking and humanitarian operations? Explain your point of view.

5. What are the main problems of the Armed Forces of Ukraine?

7.	Translate words and word combinations into English

Національні інтереси, суверенітет, територіальна цілісність, взаємосумісність, багатонаціональні формування, стабільність, дипломатія, правоохоронні органи, загрози невоєнного характеру.

8.	Read, decipher and translate abbreviations

NATO; WMD