VOA新闻杂志--Venediktova: Ukraine's First Woman Prosecutor

Venediktova: Ukraine's First Woman Prosecutor¹

The messages, reports from across Ukraine, read:

One civilian² dead.

Thirteen military casualties.

Five civilians³ injured.

Ukrainian Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova is looking at her cell phone as the messages come in. Her staff will collect the messages, register the reports, and investigate them for evidence of possible war crimes.

Venediktova declared last week that Ukraine would seek official international justice against Russia for its war. She noted⁴ at the time that the process would not be a quick one, especially as the warring continues.

And, so it is. The office is slowly and carefully gathering⁵ the information with one goal in mind: to hold Russia's military and its president, Vladimir Putin, accountable for the death and destruction in Ukraine.

Venediktova's office has opened more than 8,000 criminal cases linked to the war already. Investigators⁶ have identified 500 suspects so far, including Russian government ministers and military commanders.

Venediktova has deployed⁷ prosecutors⁸ to refugee centers across Ukraine and at border crossings. They talk with the displaced, seeking the refugees' stories of the war to document as evidence.

Even little details reported by a witness can be important. A description of an attacker's clothing, or the sound of shelling, might lead to a major finding.

The interviews are slow and careful but worthy⁹ of the time. Venediktova and her office say they have documented evidence of mass burial sites, execution of civilians, shelling of civilian areas, repeated attacks on hospitals, forced disappearances¹⁰, torture, sexual violence and cities under siege, denied food, water and humanitarian¹¹ aid.

For Venediktova, the goal is personal. "I protect the public interest of Ukrainian citizens," she told The Associated Press. "And now I see that I can't protect these dead kids. And for me it's pain," she said.

The 43-year-old former law professor became Ukraine's prosecutor general in 2020, the first woman to serve in the position. Since the war, she is on the move continuously with special safety measures in place, including bullet-proof military clothing. There is little time to eat or rest.

"The main functions of the law are to protect and to compensate¹². I hope that we can do it, because now it's just beautiful words, no more rule of law," Venediktova says. "It's very beautiful words. I want them to work."

Recently Venediktova visited the Lviv office. She and prosecutors spoke¹³ with Ala. Ala is 34 years old, and she has an 8-year-old daughter. Ala did not give her last name because her daughter is still in the Russian-controlled area.

Ala explains to them that shelling destroyed her home. She collected a piece of metal for evidence.

"We need proof for them to be punished. I am lucky. I am still here to talk about what happened to me," Ala said.

Venediktova has been creating partnerships¹⁴ and relations with human rights group. Some of these groups and the public have been concerned about the Ukrainian authorities in the past.

Venediktova also wants average citizens to help collect evidence by using their phones to send the information to a government website. In the past five weeks there have been over 6,000 claims on the site.

Most nights, Venediktova appears on Ukrainian TV to speak to the people of her country. She tells them that Ukraine will punish Russia for its actions.

"My first joy will be victory when we sell someone's villa¹⁵, yacht, and our ordinary Ukrainians, who were forced to flee their homes, will physically¹⁶ receive this compensation," she says. "Thank you, good evening, see you soon."

Words in This Story

staff – n. people who work and are employed by a company or organization

prosecutor – n. one who is in charge of the process of pursuing formal charges against an offender¹⁷ to final judgment¹⁸

kids – n. children

bullet-proof – adj. not able to be penetrated¹⁹ by bullets

compensate – v. to give money to make up for something

joy – n. a feeling of great happiness

villa – n. a large house, usually in the countryside or near the sea, especially in southern Europe, and often one that people can rent for a vacation

yacht – n. a large boat that is used for racing or pleasure

1 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

2 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

3 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。

4 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。

5 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

6 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

8 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

9 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。

10 disappearances   

n.消失( disappearance的名词复数 )；丢失；失踪；失踪案

参考例句：

• Most disappearances are the result of the terrorist activity. 大多数的失踪案都是恐怖分子造成的。 来自辞典例句
• The espionage, the betrayals, the arrests, the tortures, the executions, the disappearances will never cease. 间谍活动、叛党卖国、逮捕拷打、处决灭迹，这种事情永远不会完。 来自英汉文学

11 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

12 compensate   

vt.补偿，赔偿；酬报 vi.弥补；补偿；抵消

参考例句：

• She used her good looks to compensate her lack of intelligence. 她利用她漂亮的外表来弥补智力的不足。
• Nothing can compensate for the loss of one's health. 一个人失去了键康是不可弥补的。

13 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。

14 partnerships   

n.伙伴关系( partnership的名词复数 )；合伙人身份；合作关系

参考例句：

• Partnerships suffer another major disadvantage: decision-making is shared. 合伙企业的另一主要缺点是决定要由大家来作。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• It involved selling off limited partnerships. 它涉及到售出有限的合伙权。 来自辞典例句

15 villa   

n.别墅，城郊小屋

参考例句：

• We rented a villa in France for the summer holidays.我们在法国租了一幢别墅消夏。
• We are quartered in a beautiful villa.我们住在一栋漂亮的别墅里。

16 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

17 offender   

n.冒犯者，违反者，犯罪者

参考例句：

• They all sued out a pardon for an offender.他们请求法院赦免一名罪犯。
• The authorities often know that sex offenders will attack again when they are released.当局一般都知道性犯罪者在获释后往往会再次犯案。

18 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

19 penetrated   

adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• The knife had penetrated his chest. 刀子刺入了他的胸膛。
• They penetrated into territory where no man had ever gone before. 他们已进入先前没人去过的地区。