美国国家公共电台 NPR--6 months of war: The view from the frontlines

6 months of war: The view from the frontlines

Transcript¹

NPR's Rachel Martin talks to Ukrainian politician Volodymyr Omelyan, who left his job and family, and has been fighting against the Russians on the frontlines for the last six months.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

For another perspective on how Ukrainians are feeling on this, their Independence Day, we called Ukraine's former minister of infrastructure². His name is Volodymyr Omelyan. In the first hours of the war, Omelyan left his job and family behind to join Ukrainian forces on the front lines of the war, which is where we have reached him this morning. Mr. Omelyan, thank you so much for being with us.

VOLODYMYR OMELYAN: It's a great pleasure for me to be with you. And we are very grateful to every American who stands with Ukraine in those months (ph) because we do understand that without your assistance, help and commitment, we will never survive.

MARTIN: Well, let's talk about your commitment to this war. When you said goodbye to your family and joined the Ukrainian forces, did you have any idea at that point that you would still be fighting six months later, on your country's Independence Day no less?

OMELYAN: From the very first day, our goal was to win and to celebrate victory together with our Western allies. And definitely mood of our forces was changing with every month because in the first days and first weeks, we were desperately³ fighting against overwhelming Russian troops. But right now, we do understand that we should free all our lands, all Ukrainian territory and finally close the issue with collapse⁴ of Soviet⁵ Union, which started in 1991 and should end in 2023.

MARTIN: I mean, it is amazing just to think about the longevity⁶ of the aggression⁷ that Ukraine has seen from Russia. I mean, without getting into specifics, your unit is now fighting in the south of the country, I understand, where reports say it's been very difficult to dislodge Russian forces. Can you give us a sense of just how difficult it has been where you are?

OMELYAN: Yes, that's true. After failed to capture Kyiv and capture eastern Ukraine, Russia concentrated all of their forces in the south of Ukraine right now. And we face severe battles. But we do believe that together with Western support and artillery⁸, ammunition⁹ and I hope aviation, which we expect to come soon as well, we will prevail and we are ready to start counteroffensive operations. The only thing - that we don't want to spend human lives and lose our soldiers. That's why we rely on technical means and artillery, tanks and so on.

MARTIN: Have you lost people that you have known?

OMELYAN: Yes, yes. We lost just a couple of days, lost two of my friends from my battalion¹⁰ and another two the next day.

MARTIN: I mean, I understand that you are projecting strength and resolve in this moment as you need to. But how is morale¹¹ among your colleagues, among your soldiers, after six months of this fighting?

OMELYAN: Yes, physically¹², definitely, it's exhausting, but morale is very high. And we do understand - you have best expression for the situation, that freedom is not free and we should fight to save our Ukraine, and we should fight to protect democratic world. Because definitely it's not only about Russia to occupy Ukraine. It's about the choice how the world will be ruled - with democracy or tyranny and autocracy¹³. It's not only about Russia because China is behind all this stuff. And we should show the example that there is no chance for bloody¹⁴ autocracy of the 20th or 19th century to take the lead in the world.

MARTIN: I heard you say that Ukraine is committed to freeing provinces, regions that are currently occupied by Russia. Is that an achievable goal, do you think, or is there a possibility that when this ends, that it will end with changed Ukrainian borders?

OMELYAN: Well, I'm sure that it's achievable because if you recall 1991 and you talk to average people in the beginning of August, nobody would believe that Soviet Union will collapse, and everybody would answer you that it will last forever, Soviet occupation over Eastern Europe. And it ended within a couple of days. Right now, it's the same situation. Russia looks like a big monster. But we show to the world that we are not afraid, and we are able to resist and to beat them. The same as with the economy, the same as with the Russian politics. They are groups which captured the power in Moscow and in Kremlin, and they are trying to convince the whole world that corruption¹⁵ is OK and killing¹⁶ people is OK. We are not agree with that. And we do believe that after freeing our territories, we should together settle the problem of Russia itself because we do not want to have the same situation that we spend a lot of money, a lot of time to make democratic state and then we get another Putin to come to power and have another colonial war.

MARTIN: How is your brigade marking Independence Day today?

OMELYAN: It's calm. Definitely, we celebrate with our hearts, but we do not organize any great celebrations in the street because we do understand the danger. We are under permanent threat and real missile attacks from Russia. Let's say in the southern Ukraine, we already survived a number of them within the last 24 hours. And we do understand that until victory comes and until victory is got, we are not ready to make a great holiday in Ukraine.

MARTIN: I understand your family is - has evacuated¹⁷. They're no longer in Ukraine. Have you had conversations with your wife about how long this is actually going to take, how long you will be separated?

OMELYAN: She understood my choice, and she fully¹⁸ agree with me that I will be here with the army in Ukraine until the victory comes. We do understand that it's not kind of one day of miracle happen the next day. And we do believe that within one year time, it should be over, but we will not take any compromise or diplomatic solution. Only battle will decide everything. So I hope that my family will be in safe condition in the West until I fight here in Ukraine.

MARTIN: Former Minister of Infrastructure Volodymyr Omelyan, he took up arms and started fighting with Ukrainian forces six months ago when the war began. He joined us from the front lines in southern Ukraine. Thank you so much for your time.

OMELYAN: My great pleasure.

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 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。

3 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。

4 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

5 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。

6 longevity   

n.长命；长寿

参考例句：

• Good habits promote longevity.良好的习惯能增长寿命。
• Human longevity runs in families.人类的长寿具有家族遗传性。

7 aggression   

n.进攻，侵略，侵犯，侵害

参考例句：

• So long as we are firmly united, we need fear no aggression.只要我们紧密地团结，就不必惧怕外来侵略。
• Her view is that aggression is part of human nature.她认为攻击性是人类本性的一部份。

8 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。

9 ammunition   

n.军火，弹药

参考例句：

• A few of the jeeps had run out of ammunition.几辆吉普车上的弹药已经用光了。
• They have expended all their ammunition.他们把弹药用光。

10 battalion   

n.营；部队；大队(的人)

参考例句：

• The town was garrisoned by a battalion.该镇由一营士兵驻守。
• At the end of the drill parade,the battalion fell out.操练之后，队伍解散了。

11 morale   

n.道德准则，士气，斗志

参考例句：

• The morale of the enemy troops is sinking lower every day.敌军的士气日益低落。
• He tried to bolster up their morale.他尽力鼓舞他们的士气。

12 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

13 autocracy   

n.独裁政治，独裁政府

参考例句：

• The revolution caused the overthrow of the autocracy.这场革命导致了独裁政体的结束。
• Many poor countries are abandoning autocracy.很多贫穷国家都在放弃独裁统治。

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 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

16 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

17 evacuated   

撤退者的

参考例句：

• Police evacuated nearby buildings. 警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。
• The fireman evacuated the guests from the burning hotel. 消防队员把客人们从燃烧着的旅馆中撤出来。

18 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。