Ukrainian forces in Mariupol are refusing to surrender to Russian forces

Ukrainian forces in Mariupol are refusing to surrender to Russian forces

Transcript¹

NPR's Leila Fadel talks to retired² Gen. Ben Hodges about how the Russian assault in eastern Ukraine will be different from Russian President Putin's initial plan to take Kiev at the end of February.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Russia's foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, says Moscow has started another phase of its assault on Ukraine. The Defense³ Ministry⁴ in Moscow says missiles and artillery⁵ have struck over a thousand military targets in eastern Ukraine. Civilians⁶ have not been spared. And Russia continues its bombardment of the strategic port city of Mariupol, where many fear troops will soon raze⁷ the city. In Washington, the Biden administration is expected to send more military aid on top of the $800 million package announced last week. Ben Hodges is the former commanding general of the U.S. Army in Europe. He is now with the Center for European Policy Analysis, and I spoke⁸ with him this morning while he was on a visit to Istanbul, Turkey.

Now, it looks like Russia is trying to split Ukraine - take its east, separate it from its center and west - and it's focused a lot on port cities in the Azov Sea. The southern port city of Mariupol is in ruins - water, electricity is out and accounts from inside are devastating⁹. But Ukrainian forces are refusing to surrender, even with an ultimatum¹⁰ from Russia, where Russia says surrender or face elimination¹¹. What do you expect will happen in the coming hours or days with Mariupol?

BEN HODGES: Well, I think people are going to be studying the defenders¹² of Mariupol for decades. What an incredible example of human resolve and determination. But also, what an example of the ineptitude¹³ and the pitiful state of the Russian military. I mean, Mariupol should have been one of the first cities to fall when you think of all the advantages the Russians had - control of the Azov Sea, proximity¹⁴ to all of their forces up in Donbas - in northern part of Donbas, as well as in Crimea.

Instead, here we are, eight weeks later, and these incredible people - civilians as well as military - refusing to surrender. So this is a real test of will and - as well as skill. Awful lot of Russian forces are tied up around Mariupol right now. So if Mariupol ever does fall, that would release some more troops for the Russians. But that doesn't mean they'll all be fresh and ready to go into a new fight. And, of course, it would clean up some of their logistics eventually to be able to move in that region.

But I tell you, I think this has highlighted to me - I was looking at one of these famous maps that everybody sees now, and here we are at eight weeks into the fight - since February 24. Mariupol is still holding out, and Russia has only been able to capture, seize, occupy a sliver¹⁵ of Ukrainian territory. And I think they're at their end of their rope. They don't have tens of thousands of more troops and new stuff coming in. I mean, they're all in. I think we're looking at a Russia that is going to collapse¹⁶ as a state within the next four or five years - that have been sanctioned...

FADEL: Collapse as a state.

HODGES: Absolutely. We're going to see the breakup of the Russian Federation¹⁷. I mean, they have not been able to capture or defeat Ukraine. And I think what we're seeing are signs of the sickness inside Russia.

FADEL: Are the events happening today likely to determine the extent of Moscow's success?

HODGES: Yeah, I think you're right, Leila. I think this is a decisive part of this conflict. Now, just one point to clarify. You know, the war has been going on for eight years - since 2014, when they invaded Ukraine and there was fighting in Donbas and they've occupied Crimea illegally - but eight weeks in terms of this latest horrific phase.

FADEL: But this war went much further.

HODGES: Yeah. And so the Kremlin has to be very concerned about what's going to happen. I mean, it will be impossible to hide the fact that somewhere between ten, fifteen thousand Russian soldiers and sailors have been killed. Whatever the exact number is, we'll never know. But it's clearly going to be, you know, upwards¹⁸ of 10,000. And this is going to continue. The Ukrainians are going to continue to make Russia bleed. It will be impossible to hide this from those thousands of Russian families and the rest of the public.

Now, interestingly, most of the Russian troops don't come from Moscow or St. Petersburg. So the army is made up of people from the hinterlands and different ethnicities. So the Russian elites¹⁹, if you will, where it's most visible - they still are not really seeing all this. So we've got a job to do - providing truths to Russians is just as important as providing weapons to Ukrainians. And I think this should be part of our overall effort.

FADEL: Retired general and former commander of the U.S. Army in Europe, Ben Hodges, thank you so much for taking the time.

HODGES: Leila, thank you for the privilege.

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 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

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 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。

6 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

7 raze   

vt.铲平，把(城市、房屋等)夷为平地，拆毁

参考例句：

• The nuclear weapons stored by the United States alone are sufficient to raze the planet.仅美国储存的核武器就足以毁灭地球。
• The earthquake made the city raze to the ground.地震把这个城市夷为平地。

8 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

9 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

10 ultimatum   

n.最后通牒

参考例句：

• This time the proposal was couched as an ultimatum.这一次该提议是以最后通牒的形式提出来的。
• The cabinet met today to discuss how to respond to the ultimatum.内阁今天开会商量如何应对这道最后通牒。

11 elimination   

n.排除，消除，消灭

参考例句：

• Their elimination from the competition was a great surprise.他们在比赛中遭到淘汰是个很大的意外。
• I was eliminated from the 400 metres in the semi-finals.我在400米半决赛中被淘汰。

12 defenders   

n.防御者( defender的名词复数 )；守卫者；保护者；辩护者

参考例句：

• The defenders were outnumbered and had to give in. 抵抗者寡不敌众，只能投降。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• After hard fighting,the defenders were still masters of the city. 守军经过奋战仍然控制着城市。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 ineptitude   

n.不适当；愚笨，愚昧的言行

参考例句：

• History testifies to the ineptitude of coalitions in waging war.历史昭示我们，多数国家联合作战，其进行甚为困难。
• They joked about his ineptitude.他们取笑他的笨拙。

14 proximity   

n.接近，邻近

参考例句：

• Marriages in proximity of blood are forbidden by the law.法律规定禁止近亲结婚。
• Their house is in close proximity to ours.他们的房子很接近我们的。

15 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。

16 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。

17 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。

18 upwards   

adv.向上，在更高处...以上

参考例句：

• The trend of prices is still upwards.物价的趋向是仍在上涨。
• The smoke rose straight upwards.烟一直向上升。

19 elites   

精华( elite的名词复数 )； 精锐； 上层集团； （统称）掌权人物

参考例句：

• The elites are by their nature a factor contributing to underdevelopment. 这些上层人物天生是助长欠发达的因素。
• Elites always detest gifted and nimble outsiders. 社会名流对天赋聪明、多才多艺的局外人一向嫌恶。