One Ukrainian family grieves the loss of their fighter pilot son

One Ukrainian family grieves the loss of their fighter pilot son

　　Transcript¹

　　As the war in Ukraine enters its second month, the defenders² continue to contest the skies and deny Russia control of the airspace above their country.

　　It remains³ a bitter air fight that comes at a high cost in lives and equipment. The independent Ukrainian outlet⁴ Ukrayinska Pravda keeps a running tab of destroyed Russian equipment atop its online news site. Ukraine's government claims that so far it has shot down at least 115 Russian jets and 125 helicopters.

　　Those claims can't be independently verified and most analysts⁵ think the true number of destroyed Russian aircraft is far smaller. Even so, it's a remarkable⁶ feat⁷ for Ukraine facing off Russia's much larger and more sophisticated air force.

　　Ukraine won't say how many of its pilots, planes and other air assets have been lost. Some analysts believe the number is at least 22 aircraft, including several Su-25 attack planes, Su-27s, and at least three MiG-29 fighter jets.

　　One of the Ukrainian MiG pilots was Maj. Stepan Tarabalka. He was killed when his plane was shot down on March 13, according to the Ukrainian military and his family.

　　The conflict has touched every part of Ukraine

　　Tarabalka was recently buried in a cemetery⁸ in Korolivka near Kolomyia, not far from the airfield⁹ that inspired him to become a military flyer. Korolivka is a small town, underscoring that Russia's war has touched every part of Ukraine, from the obliterated¹⁰ streets of major cities such as Mariupol to the smallest countryside villages.

　　I'd arranged to meet Tarabalka's parents, Natalia and Ivan, in a park in Kolomyia to talk about their son. However, as we head toward a bench to sit down on a warm spring day, an air raid alert intervenes. Natalia suggests a basement shelter close by. It happens to be the music school their son had attended and loved.

　　Ivan, his eyes bloodshot and sad with a father's grief, brightens a little when he realizes we'll be talking in the basement where Stepan learned to play the trumpet¹¹.

　　"Maybe God led us here, to his classroom ... to talk about his life," Ivan says.

　　Like all of western Ukraine, the Ivano Frankivsk district, where Kolomyia is located, is deeply religious. Ornate and sometimes jarringly large Ukrainian Greek Catholic churches and shrines¹² dot every village.

　　And Natalia and Ivan are leaning on their faith as they mourn the sudden death of their only son.

　　As a child, Stephan would watch the MiG jets swoop¹³ in and out at the nearby military airfield in western Ukraine, his mother says. And when paratroopers fell from the sky during exercises at the field, he would race excitedly to get a better look.

　　"He would run in their direction to try to see where they landed," Natalia recalls fondly, wiping away tears as she speaks. "Since early childhood, he always dreamed of the sky, about flying higher than the clouds."

　　The dream of becoming a pilot

　　But the dream of being a pilot seemed at times out of reach. Stepan was a working-class kid from a small village. His parents live much of the year in Portugal, laboring¹⁴ there to earn more money than they could make at home.

　　Natalia says no one helped her son get ahead or cut him a break. She's proud he achieved his goals on his own.

　　"It was difficult. We didn't have any military connections, no one to ask advice and help us," she says. "Becoming a pilot – it was his own effort, he did it all himself. He always found a way. I just helped with prayers."

　　She says that after Stepan made it through military and flight school, whenever possible, he loved to fly over the western villages, dipping his MiG-29 wings in salute¹⁵.

　　"At any opportunity, he would fly close to our house, do a little aerobatic trick to show what he'd learned, and how he could fly," his mother recalls. "And everyone in the village, every house, and all the villages around would know that it is Stepan flying."

　　His grandmother, Natalia says, would be particularly excited and proud of the fly-overs. "Stepan was her favorite. She would always run out of the house when she heard Stepan was flying over, watch all his tricks."

　　Fighting to repel¹⁶ the Russian invaders¹⁷

　　Eventually, he put his flying skills to use in combat — fighting for his country in the 2014 conflict with Russia over the eastern Donbas region, flying support missions, and then as a fighter pilot when Russia invaded last month.

　　His dad, Ivan, returned from his construction job in Portugal to the village after getting word that his son had been shot down flying a mission against the Russians. The Ukrainian military wouldn't give NPR any details on his final flight.

　　Ivan says that the family hasn't been told much, either. "We know he was flying on a mission, and that he completed his mission, his task," he says quietly. "And then he didn't return. That's really all the information we have."

　　Russian leader Vladimir Putin thought his forces would have an easy time in Ukraine, Ivan says, "but this war has only united all Ukrainians from West to East. It has made us one."

　　Ukraine's military has been bolstered¹⁸ in its fight by man-portable air-defense¹⁹ systems, or MANPADS, such as Stinger missiles — many sent by the U.S. and its NATO allies — as well as air defense systems in place before Russia's invasion. Other weapons, including Switchblade drones, are also reportedly on their way.

　　Ukraine wants more powerful weapons

　　But Ukraine is desperate for more powerful air-defense systems that its soldiers already know how to operate — including Russian-made S-300 surface-to-air missile batteries. It's not clear the Biden administration will be able to broker²⁰ a deal to deliver such weapons. NATO member Slovakia has offered to send S-300s to Ukraine if the alliance can find it suitable replacements²¹.

　　Stepan's 27-year-old younger sister, Julia, is having a hard time with the news, their mother says, as if it's all not quite real. She thinks the war will end and her big brother will come back alive.

　　Natalia is upset that she couldn't see her son's body. It was a closed casket. The military told her it was best that way.

　　"It's hard for any mother to lose a child. But it's even harder for us that we couldn't see him," she says, dabbing²² away tears. "But maybe the fact that I couldn't see him gives me hope, in a way, that he's somewhere, that he's still alive."

　　Maj. Stepan Tarabalka, who leaves behind a wife, Olena, and their 8-and-a-half-year-old son, Yarik, was posthumously²³ awarded one of Ukraine's top military medals for bravery in combat, the Order of the Golden Star, and given the title Hero of Ukraine.

　　"Of course, he had already earned and deserved this medal, this honor, when he was with us," Ivan says. "We are proud of him. But we wish he would get this honor after the war. We wish he were still alive."

　　Stepan is still in the sky, he says, "protecting all of his brothers in arms, protecting Ukraine, until the victory. Victory is the only solution."

　　NPR producers Iryna Matviyishyn and Julian Hayda contributed to this story.

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 defenders   

n.防御者( defender的名词复数 )；守卫者；保护者；辩护者

参考例句：

• The defenders were outnumbered and had to give in. 抵抗者寡不敌众，只能投降。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• After hard fighting,the defenders were still masters of the city. 守军经过奋战仍然控制着城市。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

4 outlet   

n.出口/路；销路；批发商店；通风口；发泄

参考例句：

• The outlet of a water pipe was blocked.水管的出水口堵住了。
• Running is a good outlet for his energy.跑步是他发泄过剩精力的好方法。

5 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

6 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

7 feat   

n.功绩；武艺，技艺；adj.灵巧的，漂亮的，合适的

参考例句：

• Man's first landing on the moon was a feat of great daring.人类首次登月是一个勇敢的壮举。
• He received a medal for his heroic feat.他因其英雄业绩而获得一枚勋章。

8 cemetery   

n.坟墓，墓地，坟场

参考例句：

• He was buried in the cemetery.他被葬在公墓。
• His remains were interred in the cemetery.他的遗体葬在墓地。

9 airfield   

n.飞机场

参考例句：

• The foreign guests were motored from the airfield to the hotel.用车把外宾从机场送到旅馆。
• The airfield was seized by enemy troops.机场被敌军占领。

10 obliterated   

v.除去( obliterate的过去式和过去分词 )；涂去；擦掉；彻底破坏或毁灭

参考例句：

• The building was completely obliterated by the bomb. 炸弹把那座建筑物彻底摧毁了。
• He began to drink, drank himself to intoxication, till he slept obliterated. 他一直喝，喝到他快要迷糊地睡着了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 trumpet   

n.喇叭，喇叭声；v.吹喇叭，吹嘘

参考例句：

• He plays the violin, but I play the trumpet.他拉提琴，我吹喇叭。
• The trumpet sounded for battle.战斗的号角吹响了。

12 shrines   

圣地，圣坛，神圣场所( shrine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• All three structures dated to the third century and were tentatively identified as shrines. 这3座建筑都建于3 世纪，并且初步鉴定为神庙。
• Their palaces and their shrines are tombs. 它们的宫殿和神殿成了墓穴。

13 swoop   

n.俯冲，攫取；v.抓取，突然袭击

参考例句：

• The plane made a swoop over the city.那架飞机突然向这座城市猛降下来。
• We decided to swoop down upon the enemy there.我们决定突袭驻在那里的敌人。

14 laboring   

n.劳动，操劳v.努力争取(for)( labor的现在分词 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转

参考例句：

• The young man who said laboring was beneath his dignity finally put his pride in his pocket and got a job as a kitchen porter. 那个说过干活儿有失其身份的年轻人最终只能忍辱，做了厨房搬运工的工作。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• But this knowledge did not keep them from laboring to save him. 然而，这并不妨碍她们尽力挽救他。 来自飘（部分）

15 salute   

vi.行礼，致意，问候，放礼炮；vt.向…致意，迎接，赞扬；n.招呼，敬礼，礼炮

参考例句：

• Merchant ships salute each other by dipping the flag.商船互相点旗致敬。
• The Japanese women salute the people with formal bows in welcome.这些日本妇女以正式的鞠躬向人们施礼以示欢迎。

16 repel   

v.击退，抵制，拒绝，排斥

参考例句：

• A country must have the will to repel any invader.一个国家得有决心击退任何入侵者。
• Particles with similar electric charges repel each other.电荷同性的分子互相排斥。

17 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。

18 bolstered   

v.支持( bolster的过去式和过去分词 )；支撑；给予必要的支持；援助

参考例句：

• He bolstered his plea with new evidence. 他举出新的证据来支持他的抗辩。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The data must be bolstered by inferences and indirect estimates of varying degrees of reliability. 这些资料必须借助于推理及可靠程度不同的间接估计。 来自辞典例句

19 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。

20 broker   

n.中间人，经纪人；v.作为中间人来安排

参考例句：

• He baited the broker by promises of higher commissions.他答应给更高的佣金来引诱那位经纪人。
• I'm a real estate broker.我是不动产经纪人。

21 replacements   

n.代替( replacement的名词复数 )；替换的人[物]；替代品；归还

参考例句：

• They infiltrated behind the lines so as to annoy the emery replacements. 他们渗透敌后以便骚扰敌军的调度。 来自辞典例句
• For oil replacements, cheap suddenly looks less of a problem. 对于石油的替代品来说，价格变得无足轻重了。 来自互联网

22 dabbing   

石面凿毛，灰泥抛毛

参考例句：

• She was crying and dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief. 她一边哭一边用手绢轻按眼睛。
• Huei-fang was leaning against a willow, dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief. 四小姐蕙芳正靠在一棵杨柳树上用手帕揉眼睛。 来自子夜部分

23 posthumously   

adv.于死后，于身后；于著作者死后出版地

参考例句：

• He was confirmed posthumously as a member of the Chinese Communist Party. 他被追认为中国共产党党员。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Her last book was published posthumously in 1948. 她最后的一本书在她死后于1948 年出版了。 来自《简明英汉词典》