The Ukrainian cities of Kyiv and Kharkiv have suffered Russian strikes

The Ukrainian cities of Kyiv and Kharkiv have suffered Russian strikes

Transcript¹

NPR's A Martinez speaks to Serhii Prokopenko, editor of Gwara Media in Kharkiv and Volodymr Omelyan, who is with Ukraine's territorial² defense³ forces in Kyiv.

A MARTINEZ, HOST:

We reached two people in Ukraine still fighting, still bearing witness to the invasion happening in their hometowns. After a night of heavy shelling in and around Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, Serhii Prokopenko, a journalist with Gwara Media, described a scene of a decimated university building.

SERHII PROKOPENKO: University at the city's center is destroyed. Glass is broken. And it's really, like, disappointing.

MARTINEZ: And in Kyiv, Russian forces continue to advance. Yesterday, five people died after Russia attacked a TV tower there, hitting nearby broadcast facilities. Volodymr Omelyan is with Ukraine's territorial defense forces in Kyiv. Once Ukraine's infrastructure⁴ minister, he volunteered to fight the very day Russia invaded. We reached him earlier this morning in Kyiv.

VOLODYMR OMELYAN: We are fighting, and I would say that fighting furiously. Almost all Ukrainians took armor and machine guns to counter Russians. They didn't expect such a turn in their philosophy. They thought that every Ukrainian will greet them when they tried to occupy Ukraine, but they failed. They have dramatic losses, even exceeding losses in war in Chechnya. But still, it's tough because it's, like, hard. You kill one, another two come. And definitely, we need more weapons. We need more armor. But we are sure about our success, whatever it takes.

MARTINEZ: Has there been anything about the tactics of Russia's military that has either surprised or confused you and the people you are with right now?

OMELYAN: Not really because they were always telling that it's, like, a second army in the world. But it turned out to be very weak. And we crushed many of their brigades. For example, yesterday, near Kharkiv, the best brigade of Russia was totally destroyed by a small Ukrainian group. And like payback for that, they simply dropped vacuum bomb on Kharkiv yesterday night and killed many civilians⁵. But what they do normal is they cannot occupy a single major city. They simply trying to get inside in small groups to take any building to put a flag of Russia on it and picture it as, we took the city, which is fake because it's only number of four or five men in Russian uniform declaring something.

But still, we see that a lot of tanks are approaching Kyiv, coming from Belarus and from Russia. And definitely, their main goal is not to occupy the whole Ukraine, which is not the fact. And only maybe some five or 10% of our territory is occupied right now. But to occupy the Kyiv and to say that we control the capital. We put some puppet government and president in place. And now this is Ukraine. We will never accept it. We will fight to the very end. And with the Western support, with the United States' assistance in military and finance, I believe we will overcome this, A - and as we joke in Ukraine that the best time right now to get rid of Russia in the whole world.

MARTINEZ: The last time we spoke⁶, Volodymyr, you were very confident that you and Ukraine would win. Wondering how morale⁷ is right now, and is that confidence still at that high level?

OMELYAN: Morale is the same level. We are 100% sure that we will win, no doubt about that. Definitely, they are trying to spread panic among the civilians, bombing them. But they get different response to such actions. People are getting furious. And people are ready to kill Russians - even civilians, which never took any kind of gun in their hands.

MARTINEZ: Volodymyr, what's the one thing you want Americans to know right now about what's happening in the capital city of Ukraine?

OMELYAN: First of all, we fight. We will never surrender. Second issue, we are very grateful for your support. It was a great, historical moment for us when yesterday, European Union accepted our appeal to become a member of the European Union. And I hope it will become real very soon. We definitely need some actions from NATO because it's not normal when military aircrafts in the center of Europe bombing cities and villages and killing⁸ civilians. And at least we need urgent supply of anti-missile and anti-aircraft systems to clear the skies from invasion. And we will handle the land occupation easily.

MARTINEZ: That is Volodymyr Omelyan with the territorial defense units in Kyiv. Volodymyr. stay safe. Thank you very much.

OMELYAN: Thank you. All the best.

1 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。

2 territorial   

adj.领土的，领地的

参考例句：

• The country is fighting to preserve its territorial integrity.该国在为保持领土的完整而进行斗争。
• They were not allowed to fish in our territorial waters.不允许他们在我国领海捕鱼。

3 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。

4 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。

5 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

6 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

7 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。

8 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。