美国国家公共电台 NPR--Ukraine is skeptical of Russian claims that it is withdrawing from Kherson

Ukraine is skeptical¹ of Russian claims that it is withdrawing from Kherson

Transcript²

Russian officials made an announcement that they are withdrawing troops from the key city of Kherson. The city is the capital of a region Russia claims to have annexed³.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Russia's Defense⁴ Ministry⁵ has ordered its troops to pull out of a strategic city in southern Ukraine.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

The planned retreat from Kherson is one more setback⁶ for Moscow's forces in this war.

FADEL: NPR's Jason Beaubien joins us from Dnipro, Ukraine, to tell us more about this. Good morning, Jason.

JASON BEAUBIEN, BYLINE⁷: Hey, good morning.

FADEL: So how significant is this withdrawal⁸ by Russia?

BEAUBIEN: Yeah. Well, first, while we are seeing evidence that Russian troops are starting to depart, they haven't yet entirely⁹ pulled out of the city.

FADEL: OK.

BEAUBIEN: Ukrainian officials, including President Zelenskyy, are still quite skeptical about this whole move by Moscow and are approaching the announcement quite cautiously. But if the Russian military does withdraw to the east bank of the Dnipro River, as the Russian Defense Ministry is calling for, this is a major win for the Ukrainians. You know, for months, Ukraine has been slowly and steadily¹⁰ closing in on Kherson. But the big fear was that Russia could try to fiercely defend the city and things might deteriorate¹¹ into a disastrous¹² situation like we saw in Mariupol or a street battle like happened in Aleppo with Russian troops there. If this all goes to plan, it could seem like we're going to avoid the bloodbath that people were really worried about potentially happening in Kherson.

FADEL: But you mention all this skepticism from Ukrainian officials. Why the skepticism?

BEAUBIEN: Yeah. I mean, they're skeptical because the loss of Kherson City would be a major embarrassment¹³ for the Kremlin. This is the capital of one of the regions that Moscow claimed to have formally annexed into the Russian Federation¹⁴ in September. And President Putin said it's going to be part of Russia forever. So, you know, by the Kremlin logic¹⁵, this is officially now part of Russia, and they're giving it up. And also it's the only regional capital that Russia has seized since the invasion. There had been word that Russian military officers had asked to retreat earlier but were ordered to stay, you know. And there's still concern in Kyiv that potentially this is a trap that Moscow is trying to lure¹⁶ Ukrainian troops into Kherson, where they'd be ambushed¹⁷.

FADEL: So help us understand a little bit more about what the Russian Defense Ministry actually announced. Does this mean Russia's abandoning Kherson entirely?

BEAUBIEN: Yeah, that's an important point. The Russians say they're simply pulling back to a more strategic position, and they're doing this to save Russian troops. But it's still a very dangerous retreat, in part because they have to cross the largest river in Ukraine. And the Ukrainians have blown up the bridge that's going out of Kherson. And the Russians could be doing this retreat under Ukrainian fire the whole time. The order, as I mentioned, is for them to withdraw to the east bank of the Dnipro River. And that's just on the other side of the water from Kherson. So Russia will still be able to lob artillery¹⁸ shells. Tanks will still be able to fire at the city. They can drop mortars¹⁹ on it. You know, this is in no way the complete liberation of Kherson. And we are seeing some evidence that Russian forces are digging in trenches²⁰ and building fortifications there on the east bank.

FADEL: OK. But this must be a morale²¹ boost for the Ukrainians, right?

BEAUBIEN: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, absolutely. It comes after other major victories by Ukrainian forces in the east of the country. For months, Russia has been steadily losing the territory that it seized early in the war. And this is one more major city that's now slipping out of their control. Also, the fact that this happened before winter fully²² sets in here is key. I mean, it's already quite cold here, but there was a lot of concern about how difficult it was going to be for Ukrainian troops to launch counteroffensive operations out there in the snow. So, you know, even though Ukrainian officials are being cautious, saying that they'll believe this retreat when they actually see it, this is being celebrated²³ here as another significant win and evidence that the war, you know, although things are still quite tough, it's moving in the right direction from a Ukrainian perspective.

FADEL: NPR's Jason Beaubien in Dnipro, Ukraine. Thanks, Jason.

BEAUBIEN: You're welcome.

1 skeptical   

adj.怀疑的，多疑的

参考例句：

• Others here are more skeptical about the chances for justice being done.这里的其他人更为怀疑正义能否得到伸张。
• Her look was skeptical and resigned.她的表情是将信将疑而又无可奈何。

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 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。

4 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。

5 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。

6 setback   

n.退步，挫折，挫败

参考例句：

• Since that time there has never been any setback in his career.从那时起他在事业上一直没有遇到周折。
• She views every minor setback as a disaster.她把每个较小的挫折都看成重大灾难。

7 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。

8 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

9 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

10 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。

11 deteriorate   

v.变坏；恶化；退化

参考例句：

• Do you think relations between China and Japan will continue to deteriorate?你认为中日关系会继续恶化吗？
• He held that this would only cause the situation to deteriorate further.他认为，这只会使局势更加恶化。

12 disastrous   

adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的

参考例句：

• The heavy rainstorm caused a disastrous flood.暴雨成灾。
• Her investment had disastrous consequences.She lost everything she owned.她的投资结果很惨，血本无归。

13 embarrassment   

n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫

参考例句：

• She could have died away with embarrassment.她窘迫得要死。
• Coughing at a concert can be a real embarrassment.在音乐会上咳嗽真会使人难堪。

14 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

15 logic   

n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性

参考例句：

• What sort of logic is that?这是什么逻辑？
• I don't follow the logic of your argument.我不明白你的论点逻辑性何在。

16 lure   

n.吸引人的东西，诱惑物；vt.引诱，吸引

参考例句：

• Life in big cities is a lure for many country boys.大城市的生活吸引着许多乡下小伙子。
• He couldn't resist the lure of money.他不能抵制金钱的诱惑。

17 ambushed   

v.埋伏( ambush的过去式和过去分词 )；埋伏着

参考例句：

• The general ambushed his troops in the dense woods. 将军把部队埋伏在浓密的树林里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The military vehicles were ambushed. 军车遭到伏击。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 artillery   

n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队)

参考例句：

• This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
• The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。

19 mortars   

n.迫击炮( mortar的名词复数 )；砂浆；房产；研钵

参考例句：

• They could not move their heavy mortars over the swampy ground. 他们无法把重型迫击炮移过那片沼泽地。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Where the hell are his mortars? 他有迫击炮吗？ 来自教父部分

20 trenches   

深沟，地沟( trench的名词复数 )； 战壕

参考例句：

• life in the trenches 第一次世界大战期间的战壕生活
• The troops stormed the enemy's trenches and fanned out across the fields. 部队猛攻敌人的战壕，并在田野上呈扇形散开。

21 morale   

n.道德准则，士气，斗志

参考例句：

• The morale of the enemy troops is sinking lower every day.敌军的士气日益低落。
• He tried to bolster up their morale.他尽力鼓舞他们的士气。

22 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

23 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。