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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
Ukraine flooded a village to save Kyiv. Residents are racing1 to clean up before winter
DEMYDIV, Ukraine — It was the second day of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February, and Russian forces were heading south toward the capital, Kyiv. To keep them from advancing, the Ukrainian military was destroying bridges and infrastructure3. Part of the strategy included blowing up a dam that regulates the Irpin River flowing south.
The thinking was if they blew up the dam, and flooded the land south of it — including the nearby villages and fields — they'd be able to stop the Russian forces from advancing to the capital.
It worked. The water flowed and flowed, and the troops couldn't continue moving south.
For about a month, the village of Demydiv, which lies on the western bank of the river about an hour north of Kyiv, was under Russian control. It was also completely flooded. The villagers' homes were full of water, and some residents think that during the occupation, that kept the Russian soldiers at bay. At the end of March, when Russia was forced to retreat from the capital, the locals were proud of what their village had endured.
They are the village that saved Kyiv, they said.
Seven months later, they're still proud. But they're also still dealing4 with the water, and there's still a lot of it.
Andriy Scherbakov, the assistant to the mayor, drives to the top of a levy5 separating houses from what is now essentially6 a lake. Trees and bushes poke7 out from the water, nearly halfway8 submerged. "Everything that you can see now," says Scherbakov, "there was never water here."
This land used to be a field; there were vegetable patches and a place where cows could graze. Now there are beavers9 and water birds. Reeds and grasses that thrive near the water grow tall, establishing a whole new ecosystem10.
Beyond the lake, down a dirt and sand embankment, Volodymyr Artemchuk is standing11 in about a foot of water, shoveling soaked and floating garbage and debris12.
"I'm still fighting the water," he says, as he moves objects aside, carving13 a path for the water to flow toward the newly installed pumps.
"It's better than fighting the Russians. The water you can pump out."
And they've been desperately14 trying to pump it out, rigging up firehouses and pumps to move the water to the other side of the embankment. Local officials estimate up to 100 houses were flooded. Though the water level has sunk far below a stained line on the fence showing where it had risen, it is still causing Artemchuk and his neighbors trouble, especially the groundwater seeping15 into basements and ruining harvests.
Damaging their own infrastructure may have been key to the country's survival, but restoring it will be costly16. According to the Infrastructure Ministry17, more than 300 bridges and overpasses18 have been damaged or destroyed — many of them by Ukrainian forces. Earlier this month, the World Bank said Ukraine's recovery and rebuilding would cost about $350 billion. About a third of that is related to direct damage to infrastructure, according to the Kyiv School of Economics.
Despite the challenging year so far, Artemchuk says the flooding is a sacrifice he doesn't regret.
He is proud of his village, which dates back to the 11th century. He explains that the Irpin River has a history of protecting the people of Kyiv from enemies — like in the 13th century, during the Kyivan Rus empire, and again during World War II, when it stopped the Germans from advancing to Kyiv.
Walking along the top of the dirt dam, past where Artemchuk is shoveling, you can see all the houses beyond have huge ponds in what used to be their backyards.
Halyna Kostiuchenko gardens in her backyard, where excess water has caused reeds and tall grasses to grow where her cabbage plants and berry bushes usually are. She's pulling out vegetables like beets19 and carrots so they don't rot.
Claire Harbage/NPR
"Everything is water back here," says Halyna Kostiuchenko, who is out in her backyard garden, salvaging20 what she can from this year's harvest. She walks through her garden pointing out her plants: tomatoes, peppers and carrots. Then she stops about halfway back and points to a boggy21, algae22 and moss-covered area. "And then there is water," she says, laughing.
In the back of the yard, reeds and tall grasses grow where her cabbages and berry bushes usually are. The beets and potatoes did OK, she says, but she's got to dig them up quickly, so they don't rot with all the soggy soil.
Across the dirt dam from Kostiuchenko's backyard there is a group of people fishing.
"I've caught carp and perch," says Vasyl Rybakov. His last name translates to "fisherman," though he doesn't usually fish — and certainly not here. "It would have been better if there was just dry land here instead of water," he says. "Fish you can buy at the market."
Out in his backyard, dressed in rubber shoes and swim trunks, Serhii Starunskyi is checking the water level. His yard is still soaked; the water level is at the base of his house.
"The biggest issue is the water underneath23 the ground," he explains. "I keep raising the alarm to the authorities that this water is still a problem. We're not getting rid of it fast enough."
He's not alone in his frustrations24. At the end of June, Demydiv residents staged a protest, blocking the road to Kyiv, to draw attention to lingering flooding issues. They uploaded the video to Facebook.
Russian shelling damaged the nearby spillway, a passage for surplus water from a dam, which has hampered25 the region's ability to remove the water. But after the protest, the head of Kyiv's regional administration, Oleksiy Kuleba, promised that they would hasten efforts to repair it. The Ukrainian government has also promised to give out cash payments to the residents whose homes flooded.
But, Starunskyi says, just pumping out the water isn't enough. He's worried about when winter comes, and whether the soaked concrete foundations of his house and his neighbors will freeze and crack. He doesn't want Kyiv, and the world, to forget about what happened here, and the lingering problems it set in motion.
Hanna Palamorenko and Polina Lytvynova contributed to this report.
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1
racing
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| n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的 | |
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transcript
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| n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书 | |
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infrastructure
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| n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施 | |
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dealing
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| n.经商方法，待人态度 | |
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levy
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| n.征收税或其他款项，征收额 | |
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essentially
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| adv.本质上，实质上，基本上 | |
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poke
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| n.刺，戳，袋；vt.拨开，刺，戳；vi.戳，刺，捅，搜索，伸出，行动散慢 | |
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halfway
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| adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途 | |
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beavers
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| 海狸( beaver的名词复数 )； 海狸皮毛； 棕灰色； 拼命工作的人 | |
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ecosystem
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| n.生态系统 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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debris
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| n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片 | |
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carving
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| n.雕刻品，雕花 | |
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desperately
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| adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地 | |
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seeping
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| v.（液体）渗( seep的现在分词 )；渗透；渗出；漏出 | |
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costly
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| adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的 | |
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ministry
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| n.(政府的)部；牧师 | |
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overpasses
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| n.立交桥，天桥，高架道路( overpass的名词复数 ) | |
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beets
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| 甜菜( beet的名词复数 )； 甜菜根； （因愤怒、难堪或觉得热而）脸红 | |
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salvaging
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| （从火灾、海难等中）抢救（某物）( salvage的现在分词 )； 回收利用（某物） | |
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boggy
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| adj.沼泽多的 | |
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algae
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| n.水藻，海藻 | |
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underneath
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| adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面 | |
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frustrations
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| 挫折( frustration的名词复数 )； 失败； 挫败； 失意 | |
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hampered
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| 妨碍，束缚，限制( hamper的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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