The Russia-Ukraine war is taking a dramatic toll on children

The Russia-Ukraine war is taking a dramatic toll¹ on children

Transcript²

Children in Ukraine are among the most at risk as Russia's army continues to attack with ground troops and artillery³. We hear from young people living near the front lines.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

U.N. officials say the war in Ukraine has caused devastating⁴ harm to children. More than 500 kids have died or been injured. Millions more are living in cities threatened by the Russian army, or they've been forced to flee. NPR's Brian Mann has been talking to young people near the frontlines in southern Ukraine.

BRIAN MANN, BYLINE⁵: It's mid-morning in Mykolaiv, a city on the Black Sea. Anya Voychuck has come with her son, Arthur, to fill jugs⁶ of water. The main water system here was knocked out three weeks ago when Russian soldiers pushed to the outskirts⁷ of the city. I ask Anya if I can talk to her boy about how this war looks through his eyes.

ANYA VOYCHUCK: (Speaking Ukrainian).

MANN: "Sure, you can ask him," Anya says. She tells me Arthur, who's 11, has been really scared, trembling because of explosions caused by the Russian missiles that land here almost every day.

ARTHUR: (Speaking Ukrainian).

MANN: "Yeah, it is scary," Arthur says. "The ceiling in our apartment fell down." He's a small boy wearing a green puffy coat, his hair neatly⁸ combed.

ARTHUR: (Speaking Ukrainian).

MANN: School's been canceled because of the fighting, Arthur says, so he plays with his toys to pass the time. A lot of people have left Mykolaiv, but officials say roughly 200,000 civilians⁹, many of them children or teens, are still here.

MARIA: (Speaking Ukrainian).

MANN: Maria is a high school student. She says when the war started, it was really frightening at first. But people can get used to anything, she says. She's angry at Vladimir Putin and still worries sometimes that the Russians will fight their way into Mykolaiv.

MARIA: (Speaking Ukrainian).

MANN: "We are afraid of what might happen," Maria says, "especially when we think of Bucha and Mariupol. We're heartbroken, and sometimes I can't control my tears."

(SOUNDBITE OF AIR RAID SIREN)

MANN: Every day, air raid sirens sound in Mykolaiv. Arkadiy Dabagian (ph), who heads the Red Cross here, says anxiety and fear are taking a toll on young people.

ARKADIY DABAGIAN: (Speaking Ukrainian).

MANN: Children and teenagers here are really stressed. It's obvious, Dabagian says. This war is horrible for them. The Red Cross created special programs in Mykolaiv, including a separate shelter for kids, a relatively¹⁰ safe place where they can play, where there are also therapists to provide counseling.

DABAGIAN: (Speaking Ukrainian).

MANN: "We know sooner or later this war will stop," he says. "We don't want these young people to suffer long-term mental trauma¹¹, so we're trying to help."

Some young people are able to leave these cities close to the front lines, but that can be dangerous, too. The United Nations has warned that young Ukrainians, especially women and girls, are being actively¹² targeted by organized crime groups after they leave home.

JULIA SACHENKO: The war is the perfect background for the human trafficking.

MANN: Julia Sachenko heads the Ukraine office of an aid group called A21 that's working to protect young women here and in other countries. Sachenko says after Russia first invaded the Donbas region in Crimea in 2014, many Ukrainian girls wound up abused by sex traffickers after they fled to what they hoped would be safety.

SACHENKO: Those were terrible cases, and it was very difficult to assist those people because they have suffered through the nightmare - hell, in their lives.

MANN: I meet two young women, high school students aged¹³ 17 and 15, in a bomb shelter under the train station in Odesa, a city close to Mykolaiv. There's been a missile alert, and they're waiting for the threat to pass before boarding the next evacuation train.

NIKA: A building been bombed in a kilometer from our home, so we decided¹⁴ to leave.

MANN: That's Nika, a small woman surrounded by suitcases. She tells me they hope to cross the border into Poland.

Are you traveling with your parents?

NIKA: We are traveling alone 'cause my mother have a job here so she can't leave.

MANN: That's really scary.

NIKA: It is.

MANN: I ask Nika about the U.N.'s warning about sex traffickers, and she says she understands the risks they're taking.

NIKA: I read a lot about it 'cause I'm a feminist¹⁵, so I know a lot about it. And I'm worried about it, too, about all the women that are in danger now.

MANN: But she says there are no good answers during this war, whether they stay or go.

NIKA: We are in danger there, too. I don't know how to deal with that. Just be careful.

MANN: Every young person I speak to says they believe Ukraine will win this war, but no one thinks victory or peace or safety will come any time soon.

Brian Mann, NPR News, southern Ukraine.

1 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。

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 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。

4 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。

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 jugs   

（有柄及小口的）水壶( jug的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Two china jugs held steaming gravy. 两个瓷罐子装着热气腾腾的肉卤。
• Jugs-Big wall lingo for Jumars or any other type of ascenders. 大岩壁术语，祝玛式上升器或其它种类的上升器。

7 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。

8 neatly   

adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地

参考例句：

• Sailors know how to wind up a long rope neatly.水手们知道怎样把一条大绳利落地缠好。
• The child's dress is neatly gathered at the neck.那孩子的衣服在领口处打着整齐的皱褶。

9 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。

10 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

11 trauma   

n.外伤，精神创伤

参考例句：

• Counselling is helping him work through this trauma.心理辅导正帮助他面对痛苦。
• The phobia may have its root in a childhood trauma.恐惧症可能源于童年时期的创伤。

12 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

13 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

14 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

15 feminist   

adj.主张男女平等的，女权主义的

参考例句：

• She followed the feminist movement.她支持女权运动。
• From then on,feminist studies on literature boomed.从那时起，男女平等受教育的现象开始迅速兴起。