Are Russians able to get any real news about what's going in Ukraine?

Are Russians able to get any real news about what's going in Ukraine?

　　Transcript¹

　　Journalist and diplomatic analyst² Lawrence Sheets speaks to NPR's Steve Inskeep about Russian President Vladimir Putin's disinformation campaign against Ukraine, and his crackdown on Russian media.

　　STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

　　We have two visions of the war in Ukraine. There's the reality of Russia's invasion and the image cast on Russian TV. Our former NPR colleague Lawrence Sheets has a vision of both. He is in Ukraine now, and he is a Russian speaker who has been watching a Russian state TV broadcast that gives some insights into what may be happening in the Kremlin. Lawrence, welcome back.

　　LAWRENCE SHEETS: Hello, Steve. Nice to speak again.

　　INSKEEP: Where are you, and what's it like there?

　　SHEETS: I'm near the center of Odesa, Ukraine, which is Ukraine's main port. Seventy percent of the trade for Ukraine comes through this port. It's closed currently. I'm sitting next to a bomb shelter, which is sandbagged, not too far from the port area. This morning, there have been a lot of elderly people showing up asking about provisions in the bomb shelter. First time I've seen that, although I've been here for six days - probably as a result of a major bombing. We heard a bomb go off this morning, air raid sirens. The Ukraine Defense³ Ministry⁴ reporting that they shot down four Russian drones over the area, over the center of the city, over the district.

　　INSKEEP: So that's the reality there in Odesa, a port city where people have feared a Russian waterborne invasion. That hasn't happened, but there's a degree of violence. At the same time that you're there, Lawrence, you've been watching a Russian TV program that doesn't maybe tell you anything reliable about Ukraine, but you say that it gives you clues about Vladimir Putin. What is the program?

　　SHEETS: The program is called "Vremya," which in Russian means time. It's been on since 1956. It comes on religiously at 2100, 9 p.m. local. It's been obligatory⁵ - during the Soviet⁶ period, it's obligatory watching for all good Soviet citizens. And it's become more and more absurdist as the days go on. But it's some of the things which are being said, especially last night - I watched it, and the lead story was about Hunter Biden. And the allegation was that Hunter Biden, of course, had sat on a Ukrainian gas company board. And the allegation was that Hunter Biden - and I will quote this - "apart from spending his time snorting cocaine⁷, was running, actually, a biological weapons program in Ukraine for the U.S. government under the cover of the Pentagon, with the participation⁸ of people like George Soros."

　　INSKEEP: Wow. This is tying all of the conspiracy⁹ theories together into one unified¹⁰ conspiracy theory.

　　SHEETS: Yeah, it gets wild as you go along.

　　INSKEEP: OK, so this is clearly not reliable information about what's going on in Ukraine. In fact, you've noted¹¹, when they talk about people fleeing Mariupol, they suggest that the Ukrainians themselves have been destroying their own city. But does the evolution of the program tell you anything about Kremlin thinking and especially Vladimir Putin's thinking? For example, have his goals in Ukraine changed over time?

　　SHEETS: It tells you a lot because the goals have shifted. If the goals before were de-Nazification, which is still used during the program, now it's repeatedly the liberation of what they call the Donetsk, which is a region of Ukraine, People's Republic as Russia refers to it, the Lugansk People's Republic as Russia refers to it, and Crimea. And this seems to be the Russian - at face value, the demand that Ukraine recognize these regions - Crimea as part of Russia, which was annexed¹² in 2014, the other two as independent entities¹³. So the goal posts have shifted. There's no question about that. And it's notable for what it doesn't show. It doesn't show the defense minister, Sergei Shoigu, who I know personally, and he has not been shown for - we're going on Day 13 now. Now, day - two weeks, he hasn't been seen, where I used to see him daily.

　　INSKEEP: Now, I know that there was one - there was at least one image where he did show up on TV the other day, after his general absence was noted. But I'm interested in what you're telling me there, Lawrence, about Crimea and about the Donbas. Is this what you're saying? In the early days of the war, this channel that reflects Putin's view talked about Russia quickly taking over the entire country, clearly on its way to taking over Kyiv, but now they've retreated to the idea that they want Ukraine to recognize the parts of Ukraine that they'd already stolen. Is that right?

　　SHEETS: Absolutely. And in fact, this is being stated officially by Kremlin officials, including the chief Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, who had - has stated this demand very forcefully. So this seems to be not just a random¹⁴ talking point; it seems to be what the Russians are putting on the table. You speak to people here in, for instance, Odesa, and they say that's off the table because too many people have died, and too much blood has been shed. You referred to Mariupol, the Ukrainians bombing themselves and all these things - I mean, this is something that the Russians said in Chechnya and other places, that the Chechens were bombing themselves, even though they didn't have any planes.

　　INSKEEP: Lawrence, thanks for the insights. Really appreciate it.

　　SHEETS: Appreciate it, Steve.

　　INSKEEP: Lawrence Sheets is a longtime Kremlin watcher and former NPR correspondent. He heads the consulting group Eurasian International Analytics, and he's currently in Odesa, Ukraine.

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 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

3 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。

4 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。

5 obligatory   

adj.强制性的，义务的，必须的

参考例句：

• It is obligatory for us to obey the laws.我们必须守法。
• It is obligatory on every citizen to safeguard our great motherland.保卫我们伟大的祖国是每一个公民应尽的义务。

6 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。

7 cocaine   

n.可卡因，古柯碱（用作局部麻醉剂）

参考例句：

• That young man is a cocaine addict.那个年轻人吸食可卡因成瘾。
• Don't have cocaine abusively.不可滥服古柯碱。

8 participation   

n.参与，参加，分享

参考例句：

• Some of the magic tricks called for audience participation.有些魔术要求有观众的参与。
• The scheme aims to encourage increased participation in sporting activities.这个方案旨在鼓励大众更多地参与体育活动。

9 conspiracy   

n.阴谋，密谋，共谋

参考例句：

• The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
• He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。

10 unified   

(unify 的过去式和过去分词)； 统一的； 统一标准的； 一元化的

参考例句：

• The teacher unified the answer of her pupil with hers. 老师核对了学生的答案。
• The First Emperor of Qin unified China in 221 B.C. 秦始皇于公元前221年统一中国。

11 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

12 annexed   

[法] 附加的，附属的

参考例句：

• Germany annexed Austria in 1938. 1938年德国吞并了奥地利。
• The outlying villages were formally annexed by the town last year. 那些偏远的村庄于去年正式被并入该镇。

13 entities   

实体对像； 实体，独立存在体，实际存在物( entity的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Our newspaper and our printing business form separate corporate entities. 我们的报纸和印刷业形成相对独立的企业实体。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities. 北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

14 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。