美国国家公共电台 NPR--Russia's strikes on Ukraine may also have been meant to quell doubts at home

Russia's strikes on Ukraine may also have been meant to quell¹ doubts at home

Transcript²

Russia carried out a barrage³ of airstrikes across Ukraine on Monday. But what has been the reaction in Moscow to its own military escalation⁴? The Russian assaults were widely condemned⁵ by the West.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

You can break the Russian invasion of Ukraine into two conflicts. There's the physical war - people killed, buildings destroyed - and there's the information war over what the conflict means.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

On Monday, Russia launched dozens of missiles into Ukrainian cities. The places struck ranged from an energy company headquarters to a playground. It's hard to say the strikes on civilian⁶ targets affected⁷ Ukraine's military, but they may have been intended to have an effect inside Russia.

FADEL: NPR's Charles Maynes is joining us now from Moscow. Hi, Charles.

CHARLES MAYNES, BYLINE⁸: Good morning.

FADEL: Good morning. So Russia apparently⁹ responded to the bombing of a symbolically¹⁰ important bridge. What else were those attacks saying?

MAYNES: Yeah, you know, it seems like it was an effort to quell growing doubts here in Russia about how the conflict is unfolding. For weeks, we've seen growing criticism among hard-liners here over the military strategy. They argue Russia has essentially¹¹ been losing in Ukraine because the Kremlin was fighting with one hand tied behind its back. In other words, Russia wasn't using the full force available to it. In that sense, yesterday's attacks appear not to be a one-off, but signal this conflict is escalating¹². There were more attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure¹³ this morning reported.

And don't forget, just hours after this Saturday bridge incident, we saw Putin promote a new battlefield commander, General Sergei Surovikin, to oversee¹⁴ the military operations in Ukraine. Surovikin is seen as a more ruthless military strategist based on his past experience overseeing, for example, Russia's military operations in Syria, particularly using rocket attacks.

FADEL: So what has been the response then, especially from hard-liners, to these attacks from these critics?

MAYNES: Well, nothing short of joy among nationalists and Kremlin loyalists. Ramzan Kadyrov, for example, the strongman leader of Chechnya, who was - who's really gone after the defense¹⁵ ministry¹⁶ over these recent setbacks, now says he's 100% behind this new, tougher approach. Others, like Dmitry Medvedev, who's a member of the Security Council, seem to view the attacks as basically a reboot of Russia's military campaign. You know, he's again talking about the total dismantling¹⁷ of the Kyiv government. And remember, that was an early goal of Putin's in the conflict. And then there's Anton Krasovsky. He's one of the more provocative¹⁸ propagandists on the state-sponsored RT Russia television channel.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

ANTON KRASOVSKY: (Non-English language spoken).

MAYNES: So here's Krasovsky on television saying this was a fantastic day, and he literally¹⁹ danced to the news. This is what Russians, he claimed, had been waiting for all these months, you know, proof they were winning. And he said he wanted to wake up every morning and read the same pain was being inflicted²⁰ on the enemy.

FADEL: But does this then back Putin into a corner because he'll have to keep delivering on this more forceful approach? So does he run the danger of possibly looking weak again if he doesn't?

MAYNES: Well, it's true. They want Putin to go all in, but it may not be that simple. Russia has massive firepower, like the likes of which we saw yesterday. But supplies aren't unlimited²¹. Even bombing Ukraine on a massive scale - if it inflicts²² damage, it kills people, but it doesn't change the situation on the battlefield. And there, you know, Russia's struggles continue. In recent weeks, it's lost large swathes of territory in areas Moscow claimed to have already annexed²³. And a mobilization drive and effort to inject new troops has struggled amid sloppy²⁴ implementation²⁵ and resistance from the public. So yesterday's attacks seem to have pushed those problems into the background. But just for now.

FADEL: NPR's Charles Maynes in Moscow, thank you so much for your time.

MAYNES: Thank you.

1 quell   

v.压制，平息，减轻

参考例句：

• Soldiers were sent in to quell the riots.士兵们被派去平息骚乱。
• The armed force had to be called out to quell violence.不得不出动军队来镇压暴力行动。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 barrage   

n.火力网，弹幕

参考例句：

• The attack jumped off under cover of a barrage.进攻在炮火的掩护下开始了。
• The fierce artillery barrage destroyed the most part of the city in a few minutes.猛烈的炮火几分钟内便毁灭了这座城市的大部分地区。

4 escalation   

n.扩大，增加

参考例句：

• The threat of nuclear escalation remains. 核升级的威胁仍旧存在。 来自辞典例句
• Escalation is thus an aspect of deterrence and of crisis management. 因此逐步升级是威慑和危机处理的一个方面。 来自辞典例句

5 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

6 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

7 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

8 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

9 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

10 symbolically   

ad.象征地，象征性地

参考例句：

• By wearing the ring on the third finger of the left hand, a married couple symbolically declares their eternal love for each other. 将婚戒戴在左手的第三只手指上，意味着夫妻双方象征性地宣告他们的爱情天长地久，他们定能白头偕老。
• Symbolically, he coughed to clear his throat. 周经理象征地咳一声无谓的嗽，清清嗓子。

11 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

12 escalating   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的现在分词 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• The cost of living is escalating. 生活费用在迅速上涨。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cost of living is escalating in the country. 这个国家的生活费用在上涨。 来自辞典例句

13 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

14 oversee   

vt.监督，管理

参考例句：

• Soldiers oversee the food handouts.士兵们看管着救济食品。
• Use a surveyor or architect to oversee and inspect the different stages of the work.请一位房产检视员或建筑师来监督并检查不同阶段的工作。

15 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

16 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

17 dismantling   

（枪支）分解

参考例句：

• The new government set about dismantling their predecessors' legislation. 新政府正着手废除其前任所制定的法律。
• The dismantling of a nuclear reprocessing plant caused a leak of radioactivity yesterday. 昨天拆除核后处理工厂引起了放射物泄漏。

18 provocative   

adj.挑衅的，煽动的，刺激的，挑逗的

参考例句：

• She wore a very provocative dress.她穿了一件非常性感的裙子。
• His provocative words only fueled the argument further.他的挑衅性讲话只能使争论进一步激化。

19 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

20 inflicted   

把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They inflicted a humiliating defeat on the home team. 他们使主队吃了一场很没面子的败仗。
• Zoya heroically bore the torture that the Fascists inflicted upon her. 卓娅英勇地承受法西斯匪徒加在她身上的酷刑。

21 unlimited   

adj.无限的，不受控制的，无条件的

参考例句：

• They flew over the unlimited reaches of the Arctic.他们飞过了茫茫无边的北极上空。
• There is no safety in unlimited technological hubris.在技术方面自以为是会很危险。

22 inflicts   

把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Bullfrog 50 Inflicts poison when your enemy damages you at short range. 牛娃50对近距离攻击你的敌人造成毒伤。
• The U.S. always inflicts its concept of human nature on other nations. 美国总是把自己的人权观念强加于别国。

23 annexed   

[法] 附加的，附属的

参考例句：

• Germany annexed Austria in 1938. 1938年德国吞并了奥地利。
• The outlying villages were formally annexed by the town last year. 那些偏远的村庄于去年正式被并入该镇。

24 sloppy   

adj.邋遢的，不整洁的

参考例句：

• If you do such sloppy work again,I promise I'll fail you.要是下次作业你再马马虎虎，我话说在头里，可要给你打不及格了。
• Mother constantly picked at him for being sloppy.母亲不断地批评他懒散。

25 implementation   

n.实施，贯彻

参考例句：

• Implementation of the program is now well underway.这一项目的实施现在行情看好。