美国国家公共电台 NPR--In Ukraine, the new year was met with more sheltering from aerial bombardment

In Ukraine, the new year was met with more sheltering from aerial bombardment

Transcript¹

Ukraine's government issued 15,000 air raid warnings in 2022, and it doesn't look like Russia is planning to let up this year.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Russia's defense² ministry³ is accusing Ukraine of killing⁴ dozens of soldiers at an outpost near the city of Donetsk. Ukraine - Ukrainian sources have effectively confirmed this, except they say the death toll⁵ may be in the hundreds. NPR's Julian Hayda joins us now from Kyiv.

Hey there.

JULIAN HAYDA, BYLINE⁶: Hi.

INSKEEP: Granting that truth is sometimes hard to come by in war, what do you know?

HAYDA: Well, Russia's defense ministry just came out with a statement about how they're keeping the Ukrainian counteroffensive at bay and how they're winning heroically. But buried in the third paragraph, they mentioned that 63 of their soldiers died as a result of Ukrainian rocket fire in a town called Makiivka. They accused the U.S. of supplying those weapons, which is very much on-brand. But it's one of the biggest admissions of Russian loss in a really long time, and that's pretty off-brand for them.

Now, this news came after Ukraine's strategic command claimed to have killed nearly 400 Russian conscripts on New Year's Eve, a claim that many at first thought was rather dubious⁷. But then Russian officials in parts of occupied Ukraine took to social media to describe the carnage. One of them, Igor Girkin, warned Russian soldiers in the area this might happen again. Others said the death toll was so high because these Russian conscripts were up late partying that night in a school building, and then it collapsed⁸ on them. So it seems like the Russian defense ministry couldn't hide this anymore.

Now, Ukraine might be aiming for Makiivka because it's just east of the city of Donetsk, the largest city that Russian occupies - that Russia occupies in eastern Ukraine. Many in the Ukrainian military are hopeful to liberate⁹ that whole region within the next few months.

INSKEEP: And we're going to be talking about Ukraine's next steps in a moment. But let's stay on the battlefield now. What has happened in the last few days?

HAYDA: Well, Russia has attacked Ukraine on a number of occasions - four times in the last four days. The Russians appeared to be, at first, sending a message. But now since New Year's Eve, people are interpreting it as revenge. Ukrainian military intelligence analysts¹⁰ have been saying for weeks, some even months, that Russia is low on the kinds of weapons it needs to carry out its war in Ukraine, especially to attack infrastructure¹¹ like power, water and heat. So Russia might be trying to dispel¹² that notion.

But in the last week, there have been fewer missiles and more drones, and those just aren't as effective at knocking out infrastructure. Two weeks ago, the power was out for days at a time, for example. Now it's a few hours here and there, depending on the neighborhood. But the temps have been hovering¹³ around 50 degrees in most of the country. So it might just be easier to keep things running smoothly¹⁴ at the moment. But as it gets colder, Ukrainians will have a harder time keeping the infrastructure running if the Russians keep pounding Ukraine in the same way they have been since October.

INSKEEP: How are Ukrainians viewing the year now begun?

HAYDA: Well, despite all this, Ukrainians remain defiant¹⁵. A new poll from the Razumkov Center, which is a pretty well-respected group that does opinion polling here in Kyiv, found that 9 in 10 Ukrainians believed in a total Russian defeat. And about half of those folks said that they believed Ukraine would win by the end of summer. Despite that overwhelming optimism, though, President Zelenskyy's New Year's address had some more sobering notes.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY: (Speaking Ukrainian).

HAYDA: He said, "we don't know what the new year has coming, what kind of attacks people should expect." Both sides have shifted their attention away from the south towards the east, namely a town called Bakhmut. The Russians have been trying to capture Bakhmut for months. They just haven't been able to. The fighting this week in the Donbas and the whole region has been very, very intense.

INSKEEP: NPR's Julian Hayda in Kyiv.

Thanks.

HAYDA: Thank you.

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 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。

3 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。

4 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。

5 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

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 dubious   

adj.怀疑的，无把握的；有问题的，靠不住的

参考例句：

• What he said yesterday was dubious.他昨天说的话很含糊。
• He uses some dubious shifts to get money.他用一些可疑的手段去赚钱。

8 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

9 liberate   

v.解放，使获得自由，释出，放出；vt.解放，使获自由

参考例句：

• They did their best to liberate slaves.他们尽最大能力去解放奴隶。
• This will liberate him from economic worry.这将消除他经济上的忧虑。

10 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

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 dispel   

vt.驱走，驱散，消除

参考例句：

• I tried in vain to dispel her misgivings.我试图消除她的疑虑，但没有成功。
• We hope the programme will dispel certain misconceptions about the disease.我们希望这个节目能消除对这种疾病的一些误解。

13 hovering   

鸟( hover的现在分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫

参考例句：

• The helicopter was hovering about 100 metres above the pad. 直升机在离发射台一百米的上空盘旋。
• I'm hovering between the concert and the play tonight. 我犹豫不决今晚是听音乐会还是看戏。

14 smoothly   

adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地

参考例句：

• The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作，所以工作进展顺利。
• Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。

15 defiant   

adj.无礼的，挑战的

参考例句：

• With a last defiant gesture,they sang a revolutionary song as they were led away to prison.他们被带走投入监狱时，仍以最后的反抗姿态唱起了一支革命歌曲。
• He assumed a defiant attitude toward his employer.他对雇主采取挑衅的态度。