美国国家公共电台 NPR--How much did Russia's war with Ukraine change in a single weekend?

How much did Russia's war with Ukraine change in a single weekend?

Transcript¹

On Saturday and Sunday, Ukrainian forces reclaimed² a wide swath of territory in the northeast in a swift-moving counteroffensive that appeared to catch the Russians by surprise.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

How much did Ukraine's war change in a single weekend? Ukrainian forces have been on the offensive in multiple areas. And on Saturday and Sunday, Russian forces appeared to collapse³ in the northeast. Russian forces made a hasty and sometimes disorganized retreat toward their own country's borders. NPR's Elissa Nadworny is in Ukraine's capital, Kyiv. Hey there, Elissa.

ELISSA NADWORNY, BYLINE⁴: Hello.

INSKEEP: So how much did the Ukrainians advance?

NADWORNY: So Ukrainian officials claim to have recaptured more than 1,200 square miles since the beginning of September.

INSKEEP: Wow.

NADWORNY: The Institute for the Study of War in D.C. is reporting that Ukraine has captured nearly all of the Kharkiv region. So that's in the country's northeast. Over the weekend, people were glued to their phones, just watching towns get taken, checking to see what was next. They've made it to Izium, Balakliya and Kupiansk, all of which are strategic places in the Kharkiv region, places that have been controlled by Russian forces for the last six months. Given videos and photos we've seen, Russian forces left in a hurry, leaving a lot of valuable weapons behind.

INSKEEP: And I get the impression that the Russians are not denying they've been backing up.

NADWORNY: Right. So Russia's ministry⁵ of defense⁶ and the Kremlin have not officially acknowledged the counteroffensive. But Russian military maps show that the front line in the east has moved significantly and not in the Russians' favor. Over the weekend, Russia's Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov confirmed that forces withdrew from Balakliya and Izium.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

IGOR KONASHENKOV: (Non-English language spoken).

NADWORNY: He didn't call it a retreat. He called it a regrouping in order to scale up efforts further southeast.

INSKEEP: I just want to put this in perspective. Twelve hundred square miles is a lot of territory. But it's a tiny, tiny sliver⁷, really, of Ukraine and really only a small sliver of what the Russians have occupied. How significant are these advances?

NADWORNY: Izium and Kupiansk, these are transportation and supply hubs for the Russian forces. So they're a base from which they could launch attacks on the Donbas and the Donetsk regions. So it's a big loss strategically for Russia. We talked with Serhiy Cherivody (ph). He's a colonel and a spokesman of Ukraine's eastern task force.

SERHIY CHERIVODY: (Non-English language spoken).

NADWORNY: He says capturing this territory is going to limit Russia's ability to shell Kharkiv and other Ukrainian-held towns and cities along the eastern front. He says part of the aim is psychological, to make the Russians panic and scramble⁸. But meanwhile, in the south, Russian forces are dug in deep near Kherson and the Black Sea. That's been a Ukrainian counteroffensive that's ongoing⁹ but just hasn't had the same traction¹⁰ as the one in the northeast.

INSKEEP: Have the Russians tried to strike back even as their troops are backing up?

NADWORNY: Yeah. According to the Ukrainian military update this morning, Russian forces fired more than 50 missiles and airstrikes into Ukraine over the last day. They hit critical infrastructure¹¹, causing what President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called a total blackout in places like Kharkiv and Sumy, parts of Dnipro. Many places were able to restore power, at least partially¹², within hours.

INSKEEP: What is life like in some of the areas that have been recaptured in recent weeks by the Ukrainians?

NADWORNY: We were pretty close to this recaptured area. But we were still in Ukrainian-held territory over the weekend in a place called Sloviansk. It's a city just south and east of Izium. We were visiting people who are housebound. And there was a ton of action when we were there, lots of explosions and mixed emotions, because there's also a real sense of fatigue¹³ and fear.

ANNA: (Non-English language spoken).

NADWORNY: That's Anna. She's 85 and bedridden. She doesn't want us to use her last name for fear. You know, she says, I don't sleep. There is still no heat. She's afraid of dying alone. And I think it's a good reminder¹⁴ that this offensive may have caught the Russians by surprise, but it doesn't mean this war is anywhere near over.

INSKEEP: NPR's Elissa Nadworny. Thanks so much.

NADWORNY: You bet.

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 reclaimed   

adj.再生的；翻造的；收复的；回收的v.开拓( reclaim的过去式和过去分词 )；要求收回；从废料中回收（有用的材料）；挽救

参考例句：

• Many sufferers have been reclaimed from a dependence on alcohol. 许多嗜酒成癖的受害者已经被挽救过来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They reclaimed him from his evil ways. 他们把他从邪恶中挽救出来。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

3 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。

4 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。

5 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

6 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。

7 sliver   

n.裂片，细片，梳毛；v.纵切，切成长片，剖开

参考例句：

• There was only one sliver of light in the darkness.黑暗中只有一点零星的光亮。
• Then,one night,Monica saw a thin sliver of the moon reappear.之后的一天晚上，莫尼卡看到了一个月牙。

8 scramble   

v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料

参考例句：

• He broke his leg in his scramble down the wall.他爬墙摔断了腿。
• It was a long scramble to the top of the hill.到山顶须要爬登一段长路。

9 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

10 traction   

n.牵引；附着摩擦力

参考例句：

• I'll show you how the traction is applied.我会让你看如何做这种牵引。
• She's injured her back and is in traction for a month.她背部受伤，正在作一个月的牵引治疗。

11 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。

12 partially   

adv.部分地，从某些方面讲

参考例句：

• The door was partially concealed by the drapes.门有一部分被门帘遮住了。
• The police managed to restore calm and the curfew was partially lifted.警方设法恢复了平静，宵禁部分解除。

13 fatigue   

n.疲劳，劳累

参考例句：

• The old lady can't bear the fatigue of a long journey.这位老妇人不能忍受长途旅行的疲劳。
• I have got over my weakness and fatigue.我已从虚弱和疲劳中恢复过来了。

14 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。