Russian invaders in Ukraine leave a maternity hospital in ruins

Russian invaders¹ in Ukraine leave a maternity² hospital in ruins

Transcript³

Ukraine's president has condemned⁴ a Russian strike on a maternity and children's hospital in the southern port city of Mariupol. He called it a "war crime" and attempted "genocide."

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Overnight, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned a Russian strike on a maternity and children's hospital in the southern port city of Mariupol. He called it a war crime and attempted genocide. There are some horrific images coming out of that incident. The White House called the hospital attack barbaric. NPR's Eric Westervelt is in western Ukraine with me and brings us the story.

ERIC WESTERVELT, BYLINE⁵: Well, you're right. There are truly some brutal⁶ and, frankly⁷, difficult to watch videos and photos coming out of this. Pregnant women, you know, being wounded and being carried by stretchers across, really, this devastated⁸ landscape. There are several enormous bomb craters⁹. Some look to be two stories deep. There are fears...

FADEL: Wow.

WESTERVELT: ...You know, people could be buried in the dirt and rubble¹⁰, including some children. The surrounding buildings, you know, are burning and partially¹¹ crumbling¹². There are burnt, you know, sort of matchstick-like stalks where trees once stood. It's just devastating¹³. And inside the hospital - or, really, what's left of it, I should say - you can see in the videos and photos, you know, bloody¹⁴ mattresses¹⁵, blood on the floors, on changing tables. It's just awful, awful to see. In all, the Ukrainian government says, at least three people, including a child, were killed. At least 17 others were wounded, including some pregnant women. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke¹⁶ about it overnight. He switched to Russian, importantly. And he seemed to be speaking directly to the Russian people.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY: (Through interpreter) What kind of country is this? How can the Russian Federation¹⁸ be afraid of a children's hospital, of a building of mothers, and then destroys that?

WESTERVELT: The president also urged the West to impose even tougher economic sanctions. And he again asked for a no-fly zone. But that idea has been soundly rejected by NATO, which says that could easily widen this war.

FADEL: So despite what you describe, despite these images, Russia again denied targeting civilians²⁰ and civilian¹⁹ infrastructure²¹. The Kremlin called the hospital attack report fake news and said the area had long ago been taken over by Ukrainian military troops.

WESTERVELT: Right. The Ukrainian government says, look; the idea that this was a fighting position and a military post is simply absurd. You know, in recent days, a blood collection center and a large regular hospital there were also hit by the Russians. And big civilian targets have been regularly hit and shelled in many other cities in the east.

FADEL: Eric, we're two weeks into Russia's invasion. And Mariupol is one of several cities under an intense siege. Citizens, for days, have been trying to evacuate²² out. What more do we know about the situation today?

WESTERVELT: Well, we've talked to some local residents there. I mean, they continue to paint, you know, an increasingly dire¹⁷ picture, you know - no water or electricity or fuel, food running low. Some people are, you know, melting snow for drinking water. And this morning, there are also some ghastly images of residents on the outskirts²³ of Mariupol wrapping dead bodies in these plastic bags. They looks sort of like big, black contractor²⁴ bags.

FADEL: Oh, yeah. I saw those.

WESTERVELT: They're also wrapping dead bodies in carpets and dumping them into newly dug trenches²⁵. These are, effectively, mass graves, you know? It's just not safe for people to do any kind of proper burial. So locals are seen wearing gloves and masks and crouching²⁶, you know, as they do this because of the risk of Russian fire. And the government says about 1,200 civilians have died in this 10-day siege there.

FADEL: And people want to get out. And again today, Ukraine will try to open humanitarian²⁷ corridors to allow civilians to flee. As we've seen, though, those corridors end up getting shelled. What's the latest on those?

WESTERVELT: Yeah. Briefly²⁸, most days, these corridors have failed. They're going to try again today. Some citizens have gotten out, including in the city of Sumy in the northeast. And we'll see how it goes today.

FADEL: NPR's Eric Westervelt in western Ukraine. Thank you for your time.

WESTERVELT: You're welcome.

1 invaders   

入侵者，侵略者，侵入物( invader的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They prepared to repel the invaders. 他们准备赶走侵略军。
• The family has traced its ancestry to the Norman invaders. 这个家族将自己的世系追溯到诺曼征服者。

2 maternity   

n.母性，母道，妇产科病房；adj.孕妇的，母性的

参考例句：

• Women workers are entitled to maternity leave with full pay.女工产假期间工资照发。
• Trainee nurses have to work for some weeks in maternity.受训的护士必须在产科病房工作数周。

3 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。

4 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。

5 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。

6 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

7 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

8 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

9 craters   

n.火山口( crater的名词复数 )；弹坑等

参考例句：

• Small meteorites have left impact craters all over the planet's surface. 这个行星的表面布满了小块陨石留下的撞击坑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The battlefield was full of craters made by exploding shells. 战场上布满弹坑。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

10 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

11 partially   

adv.部分地，从某些方面讲

参考例句：

• The door was partially concealed by the drapes.门有一部分被门帘遮住了。
• The police managed to restore calm and the curfew was partially lifted.警方设法恢复了平静，宵禁部分解除。

12 crumbling   

adj.摇摇欲坠的

参考例句：

• an old house with crumbling plaster and a leaking roof 一所灰泥剥落、屋顶漏水的老房子
• The boat was tied up alongside a crumbling limestone jetty. 这条船停泊在一个摇摇欲坠的石灰岩码头边。

13 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

14 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

15 mattresses   

褥垫，床垫( mattress的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The straw mattresses are airing there. 草垫子正在那里晾着。
• The researchers tested more than 20 mattresses of various materials. 研究人员试验了二十多个不同材料的床垫。

16 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。

17 dire   

adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的

参考例句：

• There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV.曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。
• We were indeed in dire straits.But we pulled through.那时我们的困难真是大极了，但是我们渡过了困难。

18 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。

19 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。

20 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。

21 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。

22 evacuate   

v.遣送；搬空；抽出；排泄；大(小)便

参考例句：

• We must evacuate those soldiers at once!我们必须立即撤出这些士兵！
• They were planning to evacuate the seventy American officials still in the country.他们正计划转移仍滞留在该国的70名美国官员。

23 outskirts   

n.郊外，郊区

参考例句：

• Our car broke down on the outskirts of the city.我们的汽车在市郊出了故障。
• They mostly live on the outskirts of a town.他们大多住在近郊。

24 contractor   

n.订约人，承包人，收缩肌

参考例句：

• The Tokyo contractor was asked to kick $ 6000 back as commission.那个东京的承包商被要求退还6000美元作为佣金。
• The style of house the contractor builds depends partly on the lay of the land.承包商所建房屋的式样，有几分要看地势而定。

25 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。

26 crouching   

v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• a hulking figure crouching in the darkness 黑暗中蹲伏着的一个庞大身影
• A young man was crouching by the table, busily searching for something. 一个年轻人正蹲在桌边翻看什么。 来自汉英文学 - 散文英译

27 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

28 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。