Russian troops leaving Kyiv area as Moscow focuses more on eastern Ukraine

Russian troops leaving Kyiv area as Moscow focuses more on eastern Ukraine

　　Transcript¹

　　Five weeks into the war, Russia is pulling back some of its troops back from areas around the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, and appears to be ramping² up military operations in the eastern part of Ukraine.

　　Roughly 20 percent of the Russian troops outside Kyiv have begun withdrawing in the past day or so, according to Pentagon spokesman John Kirby. These include frontline troops that were as close as 10 miles from the city center.

　　The troops are heading north towards Belarus, and some have already crossed the border, according to the Pentagon. But U.S. officials are calling it a "repositioning" rather than a permanent withdrawal³.

　　"Our assessment⁴ would be that they're going to refit these troops, resupply them and then probably employ them elsewhere else in Ukraine," Kirby said on Wednesday.

　　In the first two weeks of the war, Russian troops advanced to the outskirts⁵ of Kyiv, a city with a pre-war population of around 3 million.

　　The U.S. and the Ukrainians said it was clear that the Russians wanted to oust⁶ President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his government. But the Russians have been stalled for three weeks, and are now pulling back from their initial plan.

　　Still, most Russian forces near Kyiv remain in place, and Russia continues to target the city with long-range artillery⁷ on the ground and airstrikes from above.

　　So while Russian forces may not be able to take Kyiv at this point, they are primed to keep up this long-range bombardment indefinitely.

　　In addition, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in remarks Thursday that there is reason to take Russia's announcements with a grain of salt.

　　"We have heard the recent statements that Russia will scale down military operations around Kyiv and in northern Ukraine," he said. "But Russia has repeatedly lied about its intentions. So we can only judge Russia on its actions, not on its words."

　　If Russia redeploys the troops, eastern Ukraine is seen as a likely destination. Russia has said this week it will focus on that region and both Ukrainian and U.S. intelligence say they're seeing operations intensify⁸ there.

　　Stoltenberg also cited intelligence on Thursday that suggests Russia is trying to "regroup, resupply and reinforce its offensive in the Donbas region" in the east.

　　Russian troops are still fighting on the edges of the hard-hit coastal⁹ city of Mariupol, and taking it would give Russia control of a substantial swathe of Ukrainian territory — from the Donbas in the east, down the southeastern coast, through the Crimean peninsula in the south. That would allow Russia to potentially cut off Ukrainian forces to prevent them from defending other parts of the country.

　　The big question remains¹⁰: What will Russian President Vladimir Putin do next, and what are his ultimate goals in Ukraine?

　　The White House said Wednesday it believes Putin is getting limited or even bad information from advisers¹¹ who don't want to give him negative news on the state of the war or Russia's economy.

　　After the White House's statement, the Pentagon said it concurred¹² and then a top British intelligence official agreed in a rare public speech. That coordinated¹³ announcement is reminiscent of the kinds of intelligence leaks that came from the U.S. and its allies before Russia first invaded last month — and that intelligence did turn out to be accurate.

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 ramping   

土堤斜坡( ramp的现在分词 )； 斜道； 斜路； （装车或上下飞机的）活动梯

参考例句：

• The children love ramping about in the garden. 孩子们喜欢在花园里追逐嬉戏，闹着玩。
• Have you ever seen a lion ramping around? 你看到过狮子暴跳吗？

3 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

4 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

5 outskirts   

n.郊外，郊区

参考例句：

• Our car broke down on the outskirts of the city.我们的汽车在市郊出了故障。
• They mostly live on the outskirts of a town.他们大多住在近郊。

6 oust   

vt.剥夺，取代，驱逐

参考例句：

• The committee wanted to oust him from the union.委员会想把他从工会中驱逐出去。
• The leaders have been ousted from power by nationalists.这些领导人被民族主义者赶下了台。

7 artillery   

n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队)

参考例句：

• This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
• The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。

8 intensify   

vt.加强；变强；加剧

参考例句：

• We must intensify our educational work among our own troops.我们必须加强自己部队的教育工作。
• They were ordered to intensify their patrols to protect our air space.他们奉命加强巡逻，保卫我国的领空。

9 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

10 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

11 advisers   

顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• a member of the President's favoured circle of advisers 总统宠爱的顾问班子中的一员
• She withdrew to confer with her advisers before announcing a decision. 她先去请教顾问然后再宣布决定。

12 concurred   

同意（concur的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Historians have concurred with each other in this view. 历史学家在这个观点上已取得一致意见。
• So many things concurred to give rise to the problem. 许多事情同时发生而导致了这一问题。

13 coordinated   

adj.协调的

参考例句：

• The sound has to be coordinated with the picture. 声音必须和画面协调一致。
• The numerous existing statutes are complicated and poorly coordinated. 目前繁多的法令既十分复杂又缺乏快调。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法