美国国家公共电台 NPR--Why the Estonian town of Narva is a target of Russian propaganda

Why the Estonian town of Narva is a target of Russian propaganda

Transcript¹

On the border with Russia, the Estonian town of Narva has strong cultural and linguistic² ties to Russia. That makes it a target of Russian propaganda — something Estonians are trying to combat.

A MARTINEZ, HOST:

Russian President Vladimir Putin has partly justified³ his invasion of Ukraine by saying he wants to defend Russian-speaking populations across the former Soviet⁴ Union. NPR's Jenna McLaughlin reports from Estonia, where disinformation has resonated with some Russian speakers and is being actively⁵ combated by others.

(CROSSTALK)

JENNA MCLAUGHLIN, BYLINE⁶: At a heated political town hall in Narva, an Estonian city right on the border with Russia, community members came out to hear Yana Toom. She's a local politician serving in the European Parliament here to talk about the war in Ukraine.

YANA TOOM: (Non-English language spoken).

MCLAUGHLIN: For years, Toom has mostly been pro-Russia. That's popular with this crowd in Narva, which is 95% Russian-speaking. You can literally⁷ see Russia from the riverside boardwalk. But on February 24, when Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine, that crossed a red line for her. Now she supports sanctions.

TOOM: I believe it was a kind of political suicide for me.

MCLAUGHLIN: She had supporters in the crowd, but there were a few vocal⁸ dissenters⁹.

VALENTINA: (Through interpreter) Better not insult Russia. We are all Russians, even though I live here 58 years.

MCLAUGHLIN: The most outspoken¹⁰ was Valentina, a woman in her late 60s, dressed in a yellow sweater and big chunky sunglasses. She repeatedly butted¹¹ heads with the panel. After the event, Valentina speaks to us in Russian through our interpreter. She says she wants peace, but it's the West prolonging the war by sending weapons.

VALENTINE: (Through interpreter) This is true, right? Why? Why destroy and then rebuild? My opinion is like that. I want peace. They want that Ukrainians are not being killed, but Russians are also being killed. Russian mothers also bury their sons.

MCLAUGHLIN: This is a popular talking point on Russian state TV, which neglects to mention Russia invaded Ukraine unprovoked.

TOOM: If propaganda works in this society, this is another sign that this society is not that united and that there are things that can be improved.

MCLAUGHLIN: Toom is referring to the fact that some Russian speakers, like Valentina, feel that they are part of an oppressed ethnic¹² minority here. Many Russians moved here in Soviet times. In 1991, Estonia regained¹³ independence, and some of those same people became stateless. Gray-colored passports mark them as non-citizens, preventing them from voting in national elections, though they can vote locally, travel and they get a pension. The Estonian government has tried to make it easier over the years to apply for citizenship¹⁴, and the number of stateless Estonians has gone down.

Even so, says Toom, the Kremlin seizes upon any bad feelings, despite reality. Moscow did the same in eastern Ukraine to justify¹⁵ a military invasion that started way back in 2014.

TOOM: In fact, Russia never wanted to solve the problem, of course. You know, Russia is using these Russian-speaking minorities all over the world. And this is exactly what is happening now in Donetsk and Luhansk. And this is what can happen maybe one day in Estonia.

MARK VOROBJOV: When your childhood is in one country and then suddenly you end up in a different country, even if you didn't move, yeah, you have, like, identity crisis.

MCLAUGHLIN: Mark Vorobjov is 28. His grandmother is one of those who arrived during Soviet times, and Mark grew up speaking Russian. Mark, like many young Estonians, works in the thriving tech industry doing video game design. He says he's lived with Russian propaganda his whole life. But he says Russia's just sowing divisions, not helping¹⁶ Russian speakers.

VOROBJOV: If Russia was, like, a normal, peaceful, democratic country, they could just offer some cultural help. Like, the - Germany has a Goethe-Institut that promotes German language. Russia could do the same, but they don't do that.

MCLAUGHLIN: Mark says it's Estonians who have created a space for Russian culture - with Russian dance halls, bilingual schools, even a TV channel that broadcasts exclusively in Russian. The hope is that this makes the younger generation of Russian-speaking Estonians feel more a part of Estonia. But there's also an active counterpropaganda effort here, too.

ADAM RANG: So, yeah, it was - when was the date? Let me have a look.

MCLAUGHLIN: This is Adam Rang. He's been fact-checking a lot of misleading tweets, like this one.

RANG: Did you know that in many areas, 40% of Estonians are Russian? Did you know they are forbidden to speak their language?

MCLAUGHLIN: Adam is the son of Estonian refugees who fled to the U.K. to escape the Soviet takeover after World War II. He visited a lot as a kid, and he recently moved here. We met Rang in the most Estonian of places.

RANG: Yeah, come on in. So this is a wood-fired sauna built inside the ZIL-131 Soviet army truck.

(SOUNDBITE OF SAUNA STEAMING)

MCLAUGHLIN: In the driveway of his Tallinn home, Rang sweats it out inside an old piece of Soviet war equipment - a huge army green truck with a chimney added on. When the Soviets¹⁷ left Estonia in 1991, they left their junk behind.

RANG: Yeah. Kind of reference the Soviet history but then kind of subvert¹⁸ it and kind of use it to celebrate Estonian sauna culture instead.

MCLAUGHLIN: Rang and his partner drive this Soviet sauna around to private parties and pop-up events as part of their sauna export business. But when Russia invaded Ukraine, he wanted to do more.

RANG: You know, what can I do? I'm a - I'm 35 years old. I'm not the fittest person. I'm - it's quite - it's very odd for someone like me to think about becoming a soldier.

MCLAUGHLIN: But the volunteer defense¹⁹ force was interested in his online skills.

RANG: My one advantage is that I can be very annoying online to trolls.

MCLAUGHLIN: So these days, he patrols Twitter as part of the cyber defense unit. Rang says a lot of the misinformation circulating lately is designed to push on existing tensions in society.

RANG: Russians in Estonia - they talk about them as a single group, and they kind of assume, oh, they all - they're all going to be loyal to Putin. And it's nonsense.

MCLAUGHLIN: Rang now sees the same kinds of old Soviet trucks he uses for a sauna invading Ukrainian cities - the same trucks some young Russian soldiers are dying inside. When asked if he's thought about that, he pauses.

RANG: Yeah. I guess I - we all find it very difficult to express any sympathy when you have - when you see what's happening to Ukrainians. But, you know, Russian troops are the victims of misinformation as well.

MCLAUGHLIN: They can't see what they're walking into, says Rang.

RANG: But they will fail. And I hope the Ukrainians find good and creative uses for their leftover²⁰ Russian equipment, just as we have here in Estonia.

(SOUNDBITE OF SAUNA STEAMING)

MCLAUGHLIN: Jenna McLaughlin, NPR News, Estonia.

(SOUNDBITE OF AK'S "23.01.2018")

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 linguistic   

adj.语言的，语言学的

参考例句：

• She is pursuing her linguistic researches.她在从事语言学的研究。
• The ability to write is a supreme test of linguistic competence.写作能力是对语言能力的最高形式的测试。

3 justified   

a.正当的，有理的

参考例句：

• She felt fully justified in asking for her money back. 她认为有充分的理由要求退款。
• The prisoner has certainly justified his claims by his actions. 那个囚犯确实已用自己的行动表明他的要求是正当的。

4 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

5 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。

6 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。

7 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

8 vocal   

adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目

参考例句：

• The tongue is a vocal organ.舌头是一个发音器官。
• Public opinion at last became vocal.终于舆论哗然。

9 dissenters   

n.持异议者，持不同意见者( dissenter的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He attacked the indulgence shown to religious dissenters. 他抨击对宗教上持不同政见者表现出的宽容。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• (The dissenters would have allowed even more leeway to the Secretary.) （持异议者还会给行政长官留有更多的余地。） 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法

10 outspoken   

adj.直言无讳的，坦率的，坦白无隐的

参考例句：

• He was outspoken in his criticism.他在批评中直言不讳。
• She is an outspoken critic of the school system in this city.她是这座城市里学校制度的坦率的批评者。

11 butted   

对接的

参考例句：

• Two goats butted each other. 两只山羊用角顶架。
• He butted against a tree in the dark. 他黑暗中撞上了一棵树。

12 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

13 regained   

复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地

参考例句：

• The majority of the people in the world have regained their liberty. 世界上大多数人已重获自由。
• She hesitated briefly but quickly regained her poise. 她犹豫片刻，但很快恢复了镇静。

14 citizenship   

n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份)

参考例句：

• He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
• Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。

15 justify   

vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护

参考例句：

• He tried to justify his absence with lame excuses.他想用站不住脚的借口为自己的缺席辩解。
• Can you justify your rude behavior to me?你能向我证明你的粗野行为是有道理的吗？

16 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

17 soviets   

苏维埃（Soviet的复数形式）

参考例句：

• A public challenge could provoke the Soviets to dig in. 公开挑战会促使苏联人一意孤行。
• The Soviets proposed the withdrawal of American ballistic-missile submarines from forward bases. 苏联人建议把美国的弹道导弹潜艇从前沿基地撤走。

18 subvert   

v.推翻；暗中破坏；搅乱

参考例句：

• The rebel army is attempting to subvert the government.反叛军队企图颠覆政府统治。
• They tried to subvert our state and our Party. This is the crux of the matter.他们是要颠覆我们的国家，颠覆我们的党，这是问题的实质。

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 leftover   

n.剩货，残留物，剩饭；adj.残余的

参考例句：

• These narrow roads are a leftover from the days of horse-drawn carriages.这些小道是从马车时代沿用下来的。
• Wonder if that bakery lets us take leftover home.不知道那家糕饼店会不会让我们把卖剩的带回家。