美国国家公共电台 NPR--Putin critic Yevgeniya Albats leaves Russia after a crackdown on independent media

Putin critic Yevgeniya Albats leaves Russia after a crackdown on independent media

Transcript¹

The Russian journalist knew writing about the KGB and its successor the FSB was risky². Russia declared her a foreign agent, like her grandfather who was killed in the Stalin era.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

As Russian President Vladimir Putin presses ahead with his war in Ukraine, he's also continued to crack down on dissent³ at home. His government has branded opponents foreign agents and traitors⁴. NPR's Michele Kelemen caught up with one of them who fled to New York.

MICHELE KELEMEN, BYLINE⁵: Yevgenia Albats is a leading Russian expert on the KGB and its successor, the FSB, so she's long been aware of the risks of her work, but she's tough minded and was determined⁶ to keep it up, editing The New Times, a magazine she founded, and publishing reports that were critical of the war in Ukraine, even as a court found her guilty of spreading false information.

YEVGENIA ALBATS: Judge decided⁷ that all this information was false because this information wasn't published on the website of the Ministry⁸ of Defense⁹ of the Russian Federation¹⁰.

KELEMEN: After three misdemeanors and $13,000 in fines, she called a high-ranking FSB source who addressed her, condescendingly, with a diminutive¹¹ name.

ALBATS: Zhenyachka (ph), don't worry. You know, with your age, with your status, no, no, I don't - no, they're not going to - I said, you know, would you please to check? OK. You know, so he called me back and said, you know, no, you shouldn't be worried; just be very careful.

KELEMEN: Albats, who's in her 60s, was told to stop writing about the war and about Yevgeny Prigozhin, who's been recruiting Russian prisoners to fight in Ukraine with his Wagner Group. Albats planned to ignore that advice. A week later, the minister of justice published its latest additions to its foreign agents registry.

ALBATS: I found my name on this list. I was so angry.

KELEMEN: It was chilling for Albats, given her family history in Soviet¹² times.

ALBATS: My grandfather, Mark Albats, was pronounced an enemy of the people and shot via firing squad¹³ in 1937 because he was pronounced an enemy of the people. He was 37.

KELEMEN: We meet in her office at New York University, where she's now a distinguished¹⁴ journalist in residence.

ALBATS: Just one sec.

KELEMEN: Her phone constantly notifies her of new texts - phishing attempt, she suspects. Albats is kind of the grand dame¹⁵ of Russia's independent media and knows that she's one of the lucky few with both the connections and the means to leave Russia.

ALBATS: But that's me because I'm a known personality in Russia. But what about everybody else? They cannot leave. And they are really afraid.

KELEMEN: Albats talks every day to her twin sister and many friends who remain in Russia. She wants to believe that she'll be back there in the spring.

ALBATS: Am I, you know, a wishful thinker? Maybe. Maybe. But I have to believe that, sooner or later, my friends will get out of jails and - Ilya Yashin and Aleskei Navalny, my closest friends.

KELEMEN: Yashin and Navalny are both leading opposition¹⁶ figures. Asked how all this can end, Albats thinks President Vladimir Putin will be toppled in some kind of palace coup¹⁷.

ALBATS: I don't think that Putin will go down in Russian history as a great man, as he wants to see himself in the schoolbooks. No, he will go down in history as the one who destroyed Russia, as the one who destroyed two countries, Russia and Ukraine.

KELEMEN: Yevgenia Albats describes Russia as a very sick country and says it will take a lot of effort to cure it.

Michele Kelemen, NPR News, New York.

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 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

3 dissent   

n./v.不同意，持异议

参考例句：

• It is too late now to make any dissent.现在提出异议太晚了。
• He felt her shoulders gave a wriggle of dissent.他感到她的肩膀因为不同意而动了一下。

4 traitors   

卖国贼( traitor的名词复数 )； 叛徒； 背叛者； 背信弃义的人

参考例句：

• Traitors are held in infamy. 叛徒为人所不齿。
• Traitors have always been treated with contempt. 叛徒永被人们唾弃。

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 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

7 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。

8 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。

9 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。

10 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

11 diminutive   

adj.小巧可爱的，小的

参考例句：

• Despite its diminutive size,the car is quite comfortable.尽管这辆车很小，但相当舒服。
• She has diminutive hands for an adult.作为一个成年人，她的手显得非常小。

12 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。

13 squad   

n.班，小队，小团体；vt.把…编成班或小组

参考例句：

• The squad leader ordered the men to mark time.班长命令战士们原地踏步。
• A squad is the smallest unit in an army.班是军队的最小构成单位。

14 distinguished   

adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的

参考例句：

• Elephants are distinguished from other animals by their long noses.大象以其长长的鼻子显示出与其他动物的不同。
• A banquet was given in honor of the distinguished guests.宴会是为了向贵宾们致敬而举行的。

15 dame   

n.女士

参考例句：

• The dame tell of her experience as a wife and mother.这位年长妇女讲了她作妻子和母亲的经验。
• If you stick around,you'll have to marry that dame.如果再逗留多一会，你就要跟那个夫人结婚。

16 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

17 coup   

n.政变；突然而成功的行动

参考例句：

• The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
• That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。