美国国家公共电台 NPR--Food insecurity is another major issue caused by Russia invading Ukraine

Food insecurity is another major issue caused by Russia invading Ukraine

Transcript¹

NPR's Rachel Martin talks to Maryan Zablotskyy, a member of Ukraine's parliament, about food insecurity in Ukraine and elsewhere as a result of the Russian invasion.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Ukrainian and Russian delegations² enter peace talks again today while the deadly bombings continue across Ukraine. Maryan Zablotskyy is a member of the Ukrainian Parliament. He told me the death toll³ in the city of Mariupol is likely even higher than reported.

MARYAN ZABLOTSKYY: The number of civilians⁴ killed there is much higher than that of the soldiers. For some reason, there is extreme anger of Russians towards that city, even though - at least before the war, being one of the most pro-Russian cities in the whole of Ukraine. More than 2,000 civilians were killed in Mariupol. And this is only that what we have managed to count.

MARTIN: Zablotskyy says not all the deaths are from direct shelling. There are reports children have died from a lack of water. He says the capital Kyiv has just two weeks' worth of food and water left and even fewer medical supplies.

ZABLOTSKYY: The focus is mostly currently not on food but supply and medicine, of which there is a significant shortage, and the supplies for the army. So I am hoping to bring bulletproof vests, thermal⁵ imaging scopes and daily clothing for the soldiers.

MARTIN: How did this fall to you? I mean, can you explain the supply lines that had to be set up to get these - this critical kind of equipment to the military and what your role is in this?

ZABLOTSKYY: Well, I cannot go much into the detail, but many members of Parliament have become a natural point of contact. If somebody wants to bring something and they need clearance⁶ at the border, members of Parliament, as public individuals, are the point at which they can reach to do something. Plus, in our capacity, this allows us to reach a lot of individuals and businesses and make official and unofficial contacts with different suppliers to arrange some supplies.

MARTIN: You talk about the shortage of medical supplies. Is that throughout the country?

ZABLOTSKYY: That is definitely throughout the country. And of course, the areas where there is most fighting, it is the worst for understandable reasons. So there is a long list of medical supplies necessary. Of course, it ranges from scalpels to painkillers⁷ and to many different medicine for the people who are wounded.

MARTIN: How much does the closure of the Port of Odesa have to do with the food insecurity right now?

ZABLOTSKYY: Well, quite a bit but mostly not for Ukraine. We exported around 80% of what we were growing in terms of grains and sunflower towards the international markets. And you can see that the prices for wheat are skyrocketing. The problem is that Russia has knocked off Ukraine, which is one of the major suppliers of grain to international markets. And this year, for sure, food prices all over the globe, including United States, will be as high as never. The inflation for food products will definitely be in the double digits⁸. I would not be surprised if it will be over 50% or more.

MARTIN: I want to ask about international assistance right now. Separate from the more-than-$1-billion security assistance coming from the U.S., President Biden also signed a spending bill that includes $13.6 billion in aid to Ukraine. Do you have any idea at this point how that money would be used and distributed?

ZABLOTSKYY: First of all, we extremely appreciate here in Ukraine the support that the American people and American taxpayers⁹ are providing to Ukraine. And Americans need to know that this money do go an extremely long way here, and plus, people desperately¹⁰ do need it. So $14 billion is roughly 10% of our GDP, so it will allow us to survive for at least a couple of months. And plus, a lot of that assistance is for arms. Unfortunately, we think that Russia will not stop its attack, and we will be kindly¹¹ asking, most likely in the near future, to help our citizens evade¹² more pain - so I'm pretty sure that we will need further humanitarian¹³ assistance to alleviate¹⁴ human suffering and to continue fighting of the Russians.

MARTIN: I'm sure you have seen these videos from around the country of Ukrainians protesting the Russian presence. They are calling for an end of the war, to great risk to themselves by just showing up. I wonder if you could reflect on the level of the Ukrainian resistance, not just from the military but from what you have seen from regular people.

ZABLOTSKYY: Well, it's our nation-building (ph) moment. There's absolutely no way that Russia can capture our country. It just doesn't make any point when 95% of the population do not want to see them here. And these extremely brave people, they show that. Of course, they do not have guns within them, but they show extreme courage. They take risks. And we know that many of them are eventually jailed. But it's an extremely good point because it shows again to the Russians that even if they destroyed the military in some city, even if they capture, there is no way out for them. They cannot control the area of the people that they thought would meet them with flowers. So it is clear that Russia cannot win this war.

MARTIN: Maryan Zablotskyy, a member of the Ukrainian Parliament, the finance committee. Thank you so much for your time.

ZABLOTSKYY: Thank you for having me.

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 delegations   

n.代表团( delegation的名词复数 )；委托，委派

参考例句：

• In the past 15 years, China has sent 280 women delegations abroad. 十五年来，中国共派280批妇女代表团出访。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书
• The Sun Ray decision follows the federal pattern of tolerating broad delegations but insisting on safeguards. “阳光”案的判决仿效联邦容许广泛授权的做法，但又坚持保护措施。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法

3 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

4 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。

5 thermal   

adj.热的，由热造成的；保暖的

参考例句：

• They will build another thermal power station.他们要另外建一座热能发电站。
• Volcanic activity has created thermal springs and boiling mud pools.火山活动产生了温泉和沸腾的泥浆池。

6 clearance   

n.净空；许可(证)；清算；清除，清理

参考例句：

• There was a clearance of only ten centimetres between the two walls.两堵墙之间只有十厘米的空隙。
• The ship sailed as soon as it got clearance. 那艘船一办好离港手续立刻启航了。

7 painkillers   

n.止痛药( painkiller的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The doctor gave him some painkillers to ease the pain. 医生给了他一些止疼片以减缓疼痛。 来自辞典例句
• The primary painkillers - opiates, like OxyContin - are widely feared, misunderstood and underused. 人们对主要的镇痛药——如鸦片剂奥施康定——存在广泛的恐惧、误解，因此没有充分利用。 来自时文部分

8 digits   

n.数字( digit的名词复数 )；手指，足趾

参考例句：

• The number 1000 contains four digits. 1000是四位数。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The number 410 contains three digits. 数字 410 中包括三个数目字。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

9 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

10 desperately   

adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地

参考例句：

• He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
• He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。

11 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

12 evade   

vt.逃避，回避；避开，躲避

参考例句：

• He tried to evade the embarrassing question.他企图回避这令人难堪的问题。
• You are in charge of the job.How could you evade the issue?你是负责人，你怎么能对这个问题不置可否？

13 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。

14 alleviate   

v.减轻，缓和，缓解(痛苦等)

参考例句：

• The doctor gave her an injection to alleviate the pain.医生给她注射以减轻疼痛。
• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。